Authors
Yunchuan Wang, Laxman Adhikari, Lina María Cáceres Leal, Nataliya Kovalchuk, Jana Čížková, Denisa Beránková, Noha Saber, Gabriele Fiene, Turki A Al-Turki, Luis F Rivera, Francisco Molina-Freaner, Corina Hayano-Kanashiro, Dongryung Lee, Angelina Jordine, Joost T van Dongen, Davide De Battisti, Huirong Duan, Xiaofei Zeng, Salim Bougouffa, Xin Gao, Yveline Pailles, Jesse Poland, Eva Hřibová, Mark Tester, Vanessa J Melino
Published in
Nature communications. Volume 17. Issue 1. Sep 11, 2026. Epub Sep 11, 2026.
Abstract
Amid escalating water scarcity and groundwater depletion, halophytes such as Salicornia (Amaranthaceae) represent valuable models for extreme salt tolerance and hold promise for saltwater-based agriculture. Here, we show chromosome-scale genome assemblies for six Salicornia species, revealing four distinct subgenomes, reconciling our assemblies with two existing reference genomes (S. ramosissima UK and S. europaea China), correcting chromosome numbering and orientation. Comparative analyses across ploidy levels demonstrate genome expansion in North American lineages driven by Gypsy retrotransposons, and lineage-specific expansions of two gene families implicated in stress metabolism. Phylogenetic and population-structure analyses of a global resequencing panel of 318 accessions resolve interspecific relationships and establish curated germplasm collections for future crop breeding. Genetic analyses uncover a contrasting population-genetic signal on chromosome 6A between two species, highlighting an OSCA calcium-permeable channel gene as a candidate locus for osmotic adaptation. Together, these resources establish a genomic framework for Salicornia that supports evolutionary studies of halophyte adaptation and crop development.
PMID:
42728248
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Sep 2026.
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