genomic-divergence
Genomic divergence describes the accumulation of genetic differences between plant populations or species as they evolve independently over time. This is crucial for plant science because it reveals how species adapt, speciate, and maintain genetic diversity in response to environmental pressures and isolation. Understanding genomic divergence helps researchers develop conservation strategies, improve crop breeding programs, and predict evolutionary trajectories in changing environments.
PubMed · 2026-02-14
Recombination suppression is a genetic mechanism that prevents genes from shuffling in certain DNA regions, allowing plants to evolve into separate species while still interbreeding. This review explains how this mechanism drives plant adaptation and speciation by linking beneficial genes together and limiting genetic exchange between populations.
Recombination suppression facilitates genomic divergence and speciation under ongoing gene flow, enabling plant populations to diverge despite continued interbreeding
Multiple genomic contexts generate recombination suppression: structural variants, transposable elements, epigenetic modifications, and centromeric regions
New long-read sequencing technologies and haplotype-resolved assemblies now enable fine-scale mapping of recombination landscapes across plant systems