Comparative phylogenomics reveals multilevel genomic differentiation between annual and perennial Hordeum species

In Hordeum, comparative phylogenomics across 82 accessions shows widespread genomic differentiation between annual and perennial species, with reproduction-linked shifts in constraint, copy number, expression, and co-expression.

• Why it matters: Annual versus perennial life histories require different tradeoffs between reproduction and long-term tissue maintenance, but the recurrent genomic signatures behind these contrasts are not well resolved.
• What they did: The study combined transcriptomes from 82 accessions with recently published reference genomes, comparing protein-coding evolution, gene copy number, gene expression, and co-expression while accounting for evolutionary non-independence.
• The result: Perennials show stronger evolutionary constraint in genes tied to cell division and genome maintenance, while developmental regulation and senescence gene families are more often retained at higher copy numbers; reproduction also shows extensive reorganization of co-expression.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.