Origin and evolution of grapevine genomes

Wang, X.; Sun, J.; Wang, J.; Zhang, X.; Chen, S.; Jin, J.; Khan, F. S.; Wang, K.; Mei, J.; Zheng, W.; Guo, L.; Sun, H.; Liu, C.; Abe-Kanoh, N.; Ye, W.

doi:10.64898/2026.04.20.719760

bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.04.20.719760

Origin and evolution of grapevine genomes

Wang, X.·Sun, J.·Wang, J.·Zhang, X.·Chen, S.·Jin, J.·Khan, F. S.·Wang, K.·Mei, J.·Zheng, W.·Guo, L.·Sun, H.·Liu, C.·Abe-Kanoh, N.·Ye, W.

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Abstract

Grapevines (Vitis) belonging to grape family (Vitaceae) are symbolic fruit crops pivotal to human civilization. The evolutionary history of grapevines divergent from other Vitaceae plants remains mysterious, requiring a family-wide whole-genome phylogenomic analysis. Here, we conduct chromosome-level phylogenomics to investigate the origin and evolution of grapevines using 29 genome assemblies of five genera Vitis, Parthenocissus, Ampelopsis, Tetrastigma, and Cissus, 27 of which are newly released in this study. Phylogenomic and macrosynteny analysis unanimously support Ampelopsis as a sister lineage to Parthenocissus, placing both closer to Vitis, with introgression and incomplete lineage sorting contributing to these relationships. Ancestral genome reconstruction delineates the major chromosome rearrangement events in Vitaceae karyotype evolution, highlighting the conserved karyotype in Vitis and the extensive karyotypic reorganization in Tetrastigma and Cissus. Pan-3D genome analysis highlights the contributions of structural variants (SVs) to the variation of A/B compartments and topologically associated domains (TADs), revealing a strong purifying selection of SVs at TAD boundaries. We further demonstrate that Helitron transposons drive the expansion and expression regulation of NLR immune-receptor genes in Vitis. Importantly, we discovered an NLR gene VbRpv35 from wild grapevine V. bellula resistant to downy mildew (DM), whose heterologous expression in V. vinifera confers enhanced DM resistance. Taken together, we provide phylogenomic insight into the origin and evolution of grapevines and valuable resources for grapevine improvement and understanding angiosperm evolution.

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Wang, X., Sun, J., Wang, J., Zhang, X., Chen, S., Jin, J., Khan, F. S., Wang, K., Mei, J., Zheng, W., Guo, L., Sun, H., Liu, C., Abe-Kanoh, N., Ye, W.. 2026-04-23. Origin and evolution of grapevine genomes. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.04.20.719760

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