华中农业大学宁国贵课题组取得一项新突破。他们提出了一种新产生的基因驱动了玫瑰香味的多样化。相关论文于2025年9月2日发表在《细胞》杂志上。

研究小组生成了两个蔷薇亚种的染色体水平基因组组装，并对另外40个玫瑰材料进行了重新测序。对100多份玫瑰材料的基因组分析揭示了导致玫瑰谱系特有的分类群限制基因（SCREP）从头开始的多个进化步骤。广泛的转录组学、代谢组学和功能分析表明，在基因启动子中招募微型倒置重复转座因子（MITE）转座子导致表达升高，基因SCREP协调丁香酚的生物合成，并且SCREP的进化动力学解释了不同物种和栽培品种之间玫瑰香味的差异。他们的研究结果为研究基因的新生起源机制、转座因子在基因表达中的作用以及分类群限制基因在表型多样化中的进化后果提供了新的见解。

据悉，进化如何构建基因，这些基因如何获得增强表达，以及它们如何整合到现有的调控网络中以驱动表型多样化，这些都是令人着迷的问题。

附：英文原文

Title: A de novo-originated gene drives rose scent diversification

Author: Yajun Li, Runhui Li, Junzhong Shang, Kaige Zhao, Yaqi Sui, Zhenhua Liu, Huijun Yan, Manzhu Bao, Mei Liang, Qiao Zhao, Yao-Wu Yuan, Guogui Ning

Issue&Volume: 2025-09-02

Abstract: How evolution builds genes, how these genes attain enhanced expression, and how they integrate into existing regulatory networks to drive phenotypic diversification are all fascinating questions. Here, we generated chromosome-level genome assemblies for two Rosa banksiae subspecies and re-sequenced an additional 40 rose accessions. Genomic analysis of more than 100 Rosa accessions revealed multiple evolutionary steps leading to the de novo origination of a taxon-restricted gene, SCREP, specific to the rose lineage. Extensive transcriptomic, metabolomic, and functional analyses demonstrated that the recruitment of a Miniature Inverted-repeat Transposable Element (MITE) transposon into the gene promoter led to elevated expression, that the gene SCREP orchestrates eugenol biosynthesis, and that the evolutionary dynamics of SCREP account for variation in rose scent among different species and cultivars. Our results provide insights into the mechanism of de novo gene origination, the role of transposable elements in gene expression, and the evolutionary consequences of taxon-restricted genes in phenotypic diversification.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.08.011

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00925-0