Comparative repeatome analysis reveals new evidence on genome evolution in wild diploid Arachis (Fabaceae) species

Abstract

The South American genus Arachis (Fabaceae) comprises 83 species organized in nine taxonomic sections. Among them,section Arachis is characterized by species with a wide genome and karyotype diversity. Such diversity is determined mainlyby the amount and composition of repetitive DNA. Here we performed computational analysis on low coverage genomesequencing to infer the dynamics of changes in major repeat families that led to the differentiation of genomes in diploidspecies (x = 10) of genus Arachis, focusing on section Arachis. Estimated repeat content ranged from 62.50 to 71.68% ofthe genomes. Species with different genome composition tended to have different landscapes of repeated sequences. Athilafamily retrotransposons were the most abundant and variable lineage among Arachis repeatomes, with peaks of transpositionalactivity inferred at different times in the evolution of the species. Satellite DNAs (satDNAs) were less abundant, butdifferentially represented among species. High rates of evolution of an AT-rich superfamily of satDNAs led to the differentialaccumulation of heterochromatin in Arachis genomes. The relationship between genome size variation and the repetitivecontent is complex. However, largest genomes presented a higher accumulation of LTR elements and lower contents ofsatDNAs. In contrast, species with lowest genome sizes tended to accumulate satDNAs in detriment of LTR elements. Phylogeneticanalysis based on repetitive DNA supported the genome arrangement of section Arachis. Altogether, our resultsprovide the most comprehensive picture on the repeatome dynamics that led to the genome differentiation of Arachis species.