DNA methylation landscapes in diploid and allotetraploid species in peanut

Abstract

Polyploidization is an evolutionary mechanism that contributes to plant adaptation, diversification, and speciation (Wendel et al. 2016). There are two types of polyploidy: autopolyploidy, where similar genomes duplicate, and allopolyploidy, which results from the combination of two or more genomes of ancestral species (Heslop-Harrison et al. 2023). Examples of allopolyploids include allohexaploids like wheat (Triticum aestivum), and allotetraploids, such as Brassica napus and cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Similar genes from the genomes of allopolyploid species are called homeologs, which often have varying levels of gene expression, possibly due to the interaction between their subgenomes and epigenetic changes incorporated during their formation.