De novo assembled nuclear, chloroplast, and mitochondrial genomes show high intraspecific variation in the tropical rainforest species <i>Symphonia globulifera</i>

Symphonia globulifera (Clusiaceae) has emerged as a model organism in tropical forest ecology and evolution due to its significant ecological role and complex biogeographical history. Originating from Africa, this species has independently colonized Caribbean, Central, and South America three times, becoming a key component of tropical ecosystems across these regions. Despite the ecological importance of S. globulifera and other tropical tree species, our understanding of their genomic architecture remains limited compared to temperate species. To bridge this gap, we present a comparative analysis of two de novo assembled nuclear genomes of S. globulifera-one from a South American individual and one from an African individual-and report newly assembled chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes. Initial assembly of the organelles was performed using GetOrganelle, and the results were compared with corresponding publicly available sequences from closely related Garcinia species. Our study introduces novel genomic resources, including an annotated nuclear draft genome based on Illumina short reads, the first chloroplast genome assembly for the genus, and a set of assembled mitochondrial gene sequences. Additionally, we provide a set of single-copy nuclear gene alignments identified by BUSCO as well as manually curated coding plastid genes, which will serve as valuable tools for future comparative analyses and phylogenetic studies. Our preliminary results based on chloroplast genes and limited sampling suggest that Garcinia might be nonmonophyletic. The detected differences in nuclear and organellar genomes reveal high intraspecific variation, emphasizing the importance of genome-wide sampling for understanding tropical tree evolution.

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Journal
G3 Genes Genomes Genetics
Published
2025-09-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkaf208
Primary Topic
Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

De novo assembled nuclear, chloroplast, and mitochondrial genomes show high intraspecific variation in the tropical rainforest species Symphonia globulifera

M. Gonzalo Claros, Myriam Heuertz, Sanna Olsson, Rocí­o Bautista et al.
G3 Genes Genomes Genetics
Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions
article

De novo assembled nuclear, chloroplast, and mitochondrial genomes show high intraspecific variation in the tropical rainforest species Symphonia globulifera

M. Gonzalo Claros, Myriam Heuertz, Sanna Olsson, Rocí­o Bautista, Ivan Scotti
article en

Abstract

Symphonia globulifera (Clusiaceae) has emerged as a model organism in tropical forest ecology and evolution due to its significant ecological role and complex biogeographical history. Originating from Africa, this species has independently colonized Caribbean, Central, and South America three times, becoming a key component of tropical ecosystems across these regions. Despite the ecological importance of S. globulifera and other tropical tree species, our understanding of their genomic architecture remains limited compared to temperate species. To bridge this gap, we present a comparative analysis of two de novo assembled nuclear genomes of S. globulifera-one from a South American individual and one from an African individual-and report newly assembled chloroplast and mitochondrial genomes. Initial assembly of the organelles was performed using GetOrganelle, and the results were compared with corresponding publicly available sequences from closely related Garcinia species. Our study introduces novel genomic resources, including an annotated nuclear draft genome based on Illumina short reads, the first chloroplast genome assembly for the genus, and a set of assembled mitochondrial gene sequences. Additionally, we provide a set of single-copy nuclear gene alignments identified by BUSCO as well as manually curated coding plastid genes, which will serve as valuable tools for future comparative analyses and phylogenetic studies. Our preliminary results based on chloroplast genes and limited sampling suggest that Garcinia might be nonmonophyletic. The detected differences in nuclear and organellar genomes reveal high intraspecific variation, emphasizing the importance of genome-wide sampling for understanding tropical tree evolution.

G3 Genes Genomes GeneticsVol. 15(11)
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES), Université de Bordeaux (FR), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Écologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes (FR), Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora" (ES), UMR BIOdiversity, GEnes & Communities (FR), Universidad de Málaga (ES)
Universidad de Málaga, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, China Scholarship Council, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, European Regional Development Fund
Openalex Percentile: Top 79%
Plant and Fungal Species Descriptions
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