Biology subjects

Samsonova, M. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Samsonova, M. G..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

The demographic history, genomic variation, and transcontinental genotype-phenotype-environment map of mungbean

The breeding of mungbean, a crucial Asian legume, has been hampered by the lack of genomic resources. The International Mungbean Improvement Network (IMIN) aims to ensure global access to diverse germplasms and genomic resources. Using 780 worldwide wild and cultivated accessions, we report this species most comprehensive (pan)genomic variation, demographic history, and genotype-phenotype-environment map. Despite archaeological evidence of the earliest cultivation in South Asia, present-day wild populations only possess relict traces of shared polymorphisms with cultivars. We showed that parallel losses of black seed coats in two Vigna species were caused by the same mutational mechanism in the same gene. In large-scale cross-continent field trials, we found accessions from distant environments from the trial sites have lower performance, especially in high-heritability and high-yield sites, suggesting future breeding priority in benign conditions on accessions from similar environments. Our comprehensive genomic and trial resources facilitate future breeding success of this essential crop.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2022

The climatic constrains of the historical global spread of mungbean

While the domestication history has been investigated in many crops, the process of cultivation range expansion and factors governing this process received relatively little attention. Here using mungbean (Vigna radiata var. radiata) as a test case, we investigated the genomes of more than one thousand accessions to illustrate climatic adaptations role in dictating the unique routes of cultivation range expansion. Despite the geographical proximity between South and Central Asia, genetic evidence suggests mungbean cultivation first spread from South Asia to Southeast, East, and finally reached Central Asia. Combining evidence from demographic inference, climatic niche modeling, plant morphology, and records from ancient Chinese sources, we showed that the specific route was shaped by the unique combinations of climatic constraints and farmer practices across Asia, which imposed divergent selection favoring higher yield in the south but short-season and more drought-tolerant accessions in the north. Our results suggest that mungbean did not radiate from the domestication center as expected purely under human activity, but instead the spread of mungbean cultivation is highly constrained by climatic adaptation, echoing the idea that human commensals are more difficult to spread through the south-north axis of continents.

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2021

The role of AUX1 during lateral root development in the domestication of the model C4 grass Setaria italica

C4 photosynthesis increases the efficiency of carbon fixation by spatially separating high concentrations of molecular oxygen from rubisco. The specialized leaf anatomy required for this separation evolved independently many times. C4 root systems are highly branched, an adaptation thought to support high rates of photosynthesis; however, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that have driven the evolution of C4 root system architecture (RSA). Using a mutant screen in the C4 model plant Setaria italica, we identify siaux1-1 and siaux1-2 as RSA mutants, and use CRISPR/cas9-mediated genome editing and overexpression to confirm the importance of the locus. As AUX1 is not necessary for lateral root emergence in S. viridis, the species from which S. italica was domesticated, we conducted an analysis of auxin responsive elements in the promoters of auxin-responsive gene families in S. italica, and explore the molecular basis of SiAUX1s role in seedling development using an RNAseq analysis of wild type and siaux1-1 plants. Finally, we use a root coordinate system to compare cell-by-cell meristem structures in siaux1-1 and wild type Setaria plants, observing changes in the distribution of cell volumes in all cell layers and a dependence in the frequency of protophloem and protoxylem strands on siAUX1.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Historical trade routes for diversification of domesticated chickpea inferred from landrace genomics

According to archaeological records, chickpea (Cicer arietinum) was first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent 10 thousand years ago. Its subsequent diversification in South Asia, Ethiopia, and the Western Mediterranean, however, remains obscure and cannot be resolved using only archeological and historical evidence. In particular, chickpea has two market types: desi, which has a similar flower and seed coat color to chickpeas wild relatives; and kabuli, which has light-colored seed, and is linguistically tied to Central Asia but has an unknown geographic origin. Based on the genetic data from 421 chickpea landraces from six geographic regions, we tested complex historical hypotheses of chickpea migration and admixture on two levels: within and between major regions of cultivation. For the former, we developed popdisp, a Bayesian model of population dispersal from a regional center towards sample locations, and confirmed that chickpea spread within each region along trade routes rather than by simple diffusion. For the latter, migration between regions, we developed another model, migadmi, that evaluates multiple and nested admixture events. Applying this model to desi populations, we found both Indian and Middle Eastern traces in Ethiopian chickpea, suggesting presence of a seaway from South Asia to Ethiopia -- and the cultural legacy of the Queen of Sheba. As for the origin of kabuli chickpeas, we found significant evidence for an origin from Turkey rather than Central Asia.

plant biology↗