Welcome to the 31st IUBS General Assembly and Conference on ...

have been found <strong>to</strong> be capable of rapid growth <strong>and</strong> robust
production of neutral lipids while supplied with flue gases
in large‐scale cultivations. In this talk, I will introduce a
Functional Phylo‐Genomics approach <strong>to</strong> investigate <strong>and</strong>
engineer <strong>the</strong> genomic diversity, function <strong>and</strong> evolution of
microalgal oil production using Nannochloropsis as a
model. This effort is part of <strong>the</strong> international
collaboration on FUNGEA, or FUNctional Genomics of
Energy Algae.
Gas molecules <strong>and</strong> plant response <strong>to</strong> abiotic
stress
Wenhao ZHANG
Institute of Botany, CAS, 20 Nanxincun, Xiangshan, Haidian,
Beijing 100093, China. Email: whzhang@ibcas.ac.cn
The gas molecules of nitric oxide (NO), carbon
monoxide (CO) <strong>and</strong> hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) have been
established <strong>to</strong> be gasotransmitters in mammals. There
is emerging evidence demonstrating that <strong>the</strong>se
molecules are also involved in regulation of diverse
physiological processes in plants. In addition, <strong>the</strong> gas
molecule of ethylene is 1 of <strong>the</strong> 5 classical plant
hormones involved in modulation of numerous
physiological events in plants. In this talk I will
summarize <strong>the</strong> recent progress on <strong>the</strong> roles of <strong>the</strong>se
gas molecules <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir crosstalk in response of higher
plants <strong>to</strong> abiotic stress.
Genome­wide patterns of divergence during
sympatric speciation: a case study in two
wild rice species
Song GE
State Key Labora<strong>to</strong>ry of Systematic <strong>and</strong> Evolutionary Botany,
Institute of Botany, CAS, Beijing 100093, China. Email:
gesong@ibcas.ac.cn
The genetic basis of speciation <strong>and</strong> adaptation <strong>to</strong> different
environments is a fundamental question in evolutionary
biology <strong>and</strong> remains largely unknown since Darwin.
Recent decade has witnessed significant advances in
studies of speciation <strong>and</strong> adaptive evolution using
sequencing technology. However, investigation on plant
speciation at genome level is scarce. Two wild rice
species, Oryza nivara<strong>and</strong> O. rufipogon, are sympatric
but distinct morphologically <strong>and</strong> ecologically despite
different opinions on <strong>the</strong>ir taxonomic status. Oryza
nivarais annual, pho<strong>to</strong>period insensitive, self‐fertilized,
<strong>and</strong> adapted <strong>to</strong> seasonally dry habitats, whereas O.
rufipogonis perennial, pho<strong>to</strong>period sensitive, largely
cross‐fertilized, <strong>and</strong> adapted <strong>to</strong> persistently wet habitats.
Thus <strong>the</strong>se 2 species are typically incipient species <strong>and</strong>
provide a unique opportunity <strong>to</strong> study speciation <strong>and</strong>
ecological adaptation at <strong>the</strong> whole genome scale. Here
we take <strong>the</strong> advantage of <strong>the</strong> high‐throughput
sequencing <strong>to</strong> investigate <strong>the</strong> patterns of genomic
divergence between two wild rice species <strong>and</strong> identify
<strong>the</strong> genome regions or genes responsible for speciation
<strong>and</strong> adaptive differentiation. Based on <strong>the</strong>
re‐sequencing data with an average 2x‐10x coverages
for each of 10 individuals sampled from <strong>the</strong> two species,
we obtained 2.5 million SNPs for <strong>the</strong> 2 species. Using
population genomics approaches, we identified 4847
10‐kb windows (about 12.7% of <strong>the</strong> genome), which
showed significantly differentiated between two species.
Based on <strong>the</strong> criterion of over 10 significantly
differentiated <strong>and</strong> consecutive 10‐kb windows, we
fur<strong>the</strong>r characterized 67 genomic isl<strong>and</strong>s of divergence
(speciation isl<strong>and</strong>s) across 11 rice chromosomes,
consisting of 12.78 M (3.34% of <strong>the</strong> genome). The
speciation isl<strong>and</strong>s were fur<strong>the</strong>r confirmed by population
genetic analysis in which 60 genes sampled from within
<strong>and</strong> outside <strong>the</strong> isl<strong>and</strong>s were sequenced for 3 pairs of
natural populations of <strong>the</strong> two species. Interestingly,
<strong>the</strong>se speciation isl<strong>and</strong>s contained 843 predicted genes
(2.7% of <strong>the</strong> <strong>to</strong>tal genes in rice) that involve mainly
protein metabolic process, pollination, transport,
reproduction, cellular process, transcription, flower
development, regulation of gene expression, epigenetic.
Fur<strong>the</strong>r efforts by population genetics <strong>and</strong> functional
genomics approaches are under way. This study
demonstrates <strong>the</strong> power of next‐generation sequencing
for identifying potentially speciation isl<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong>
adaptive genes, which might provide new insights in<strong>to</strong>
<strong>the</strong> genetic mechanisms underlying <strong>the</strong> differentiation
<strong>and</strong> adaption of two wild rice species <strong>and</strong> plant
speciation in general.
Genome­wide SNP polymorphism <strong>and</strong>
signature of natural selection in finless
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