ID: 613 / 57

Category: Symposia

Track: Pending

Proposed Symposium Title: THE IMPACT GENOME SIZE AND CHROMOSOME EVOLUTION ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE GENOME

Abstract: Genome size, that is, the amount of DNA in the cell nucleus, is a critical trait in plant evolution varying nearly 2,400-fold. It is widely accepted that two major evolutionary drivers underpin the staggering genome size diversity across land plants: (i) polyploidy, which results in a direct increase of the nuclear DNA content, and (ii) differential rates of amplification versus deletion of repetitive DNA sequences, which represent the major contributors to plant genomes. The dynamics of these evolutionary mechanisms have, without doubts, cascading effects on the overall plant genome size, which in turn impact at nuclear, cellular and whole organism levels. For long time, most of the research has focused on the analysis of model organisms and plants with relatively small genomes. However, the continuous development of high throughput sequencing technologies and improved bioinformatic pipelines have opened new avenues to explore the extant diversity of genome sizes across plants, providing unparalleled opportunities to further our understanding on the evolution of plant genomes. New research has been addressed to uncover the architecture of the genome through whole genome sequencing programmes as well as to investigate the role of mobile elements and tandem repeats, which are intimately linked with genome size and chromosome dynamics. The main goal of this symposium is to gather experts and researchers across different stages of their scientific career at the XX International Botanic Congress in Madrid, so they can present their most recent advances on their research projects in this subject, exchange ideas and ultimately explore synergies and new possibilities of collaborative and multidisciplinary research. This symposium will stress the need to explore and consider the existing diversity of genetic and cytogenetic attributes in order to reach a comprehensive understanding of the architecture of the genome beyond model organisms.

Speaker 1: -Name: Pol Fernández, Predoctoral Researcher, -Institutional affiliation: Institut Botànic de Barcelona (Institut Botànic de Barcelona (IBB, CSIC-Ajuntament de Barcelona), Passeig del Migdia s.n., Parc de Montjuïc, 08038 Barcelona, Spain. -E-mail: pol.fernandez@csic.es -Tentative talk title: The impact of repetitive DNA in the evolution of fern genomes

Speaker 2: -Name: Lucia Campos-Domínguez, Postdoctoral Researcher, -Institutional affiliation: University of Edinburgh, The King’s Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3BF, Scotland -E-mail: lucia.campos@ed.ac.uk -Tentative talk title: Lessons learnt and challenges when sequencing giant genomes in angiosperms

Speaker 3: -Name: Ana Paula Moraes, Associate Professor -Institutional affiliation: Universidade Federal do ABC, Sao Paulo, Brazil -E-mail: apaulademoraes@gmail.com -Tentatitive talk title: Interactions between genome size and chromosome diversity - insights from neotropical orchids

Topics (Up to three): Bioinformatics

Topic 2: Comparative Genomics / Transcriptomics

Topic 3: Macroevolution

Justification: The invited speakers and organisers comprise a broadly gender-balanced and geographically-representative (South America - Brazil and Europe - United Kingdom and Spain) group. In addition, the invited speakers and the organisers span a range of career stages from the early career researcher, including predoctoral researchers (Fernández) and postdoctoral researcher (Campos-Domínguez), to stablished career researchers (Moraes, Hidalgo and Pellicer). Representation from the LGBTQIA+ community is also ensured. Should this symposium be accepted, then we will be able to expand representation from other unrepresented communities where possible, prioritising speakers from the submitted abstracts.