The abstract is read at the publisher; the summary is JClub's.
Ruppia sinensis is an obligate brackish specialist that has lost tolerance to full-strength seawater, despite a Ruppiaceae-specific whole-genome duplication in the core seagrass PRC clade.
- Why it matters: Major marine-to-brackish transitions are hard to explain because plants must adapt to salinity extremes while maintaining genetic health during repeated habitat upheavals.
- What they did: The team built a chromosome-level genome, ran comparative phylogenomics, tested salinity tolerance physiologically, and resequenced 103 individuals from 19 coastal and inland populations.
- The result: Coastal and inland lineages diverged about 25 000 yr ago; coastal populations show reduced effective population size, lost genetic diversity, and elevated genetic load, while inland saline-lake refugia retain nearly twice the genetic diversity.
The findingWhy it mattersWhat they didThe result
AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.