Decoding the autotetraploid origin of the stress-tolerant wild beet Beta corolliflora
4 affiliations
- 1Genetics and Genomics of Plants, Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) & Faculty of Biology, Bielefeld Univesity, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- 2Graduate School DILS, Bielefeld Institute for Bioinformatics Infrastructure (BIBI), Bielefeld University, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany
- 3Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany, Technische Universität Dresden, 01069 Dresden, Germany
- 4Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Institute of Plant Biology & Braunschweig Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS), TU Braunschweig, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Most crop plants, including sugar beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris), suffer from domestication bottlenecks and low genetic diversity caused by extensive selection for few traits. However, crop wild relatives (CWRs) harbour useful traits relevant for crop improvement, including enhanced adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses. Especially polyploids are interesting from an evolutionary perspective as the genome undergoes reorganisation after the polyploidisation event. Through neo- and subfunctionalisation, novel gene functions emerge, which enable plants to cope with changing environments and extreme/harsh conditions. To introduce such resilience traits into breeding material, CWRs have already been identified as an important source for sustainable breeding. For beets, the section Corollinae contains the tetraploid species Beta corolliflora (2n = 4x = 36) that is believed to harbour salt and frost tolerances as well as a wealth of pathogen resistances. The number of beneficial traits of B. corolliflora is increased compared to those of the known diploids in this section (all 2n = 2x = 18). Nevertheless, neither the parental relationships of B. corolliflora have been resolved, nor are genomic resources available to steer sustainable, genomics-informed breeding. RESULTS: To benefit from the resources offered by (polyploid) beet wild relatives, we generated and evaluated genome resources and assemblies for four different sugar beet wild relatives - Beta corolliflora (tetraploid), Beta lomatogona (diploid), Beta macrorhiza (diploid), and as an outgroup Patellifolia procumbens (diploid). We combined cytogenetic, k-mer-, and gene-based approaches that present strong evidence for the parental relationship of the B. corolliflora wild beet as an autotetraploid emerging from B. macrorhiza. Together with the publicly available genome sequences of two additional wild beets, we identified genomic regions absent from the cultivated beet, providing a sequence database harbouring traits relevant for future breeding endeavours. CONCLUSION: The provided evidence for the evolutionary history of wild beets, especially Beta corolliflora`s derivation from the diploid B. macrorhiza, resolves long-standing questions and highlights how genomic data can clarify crop evolution and support breeding.
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BibTeX
@article{sielemann2026decoding,
title = {{Decoding the autotetraploid origin of the stress-tolerant wild beet Beta corolliflora}},
author = {Katharina Sielemann and Nicola Schmidt and Jonas Guzik and Natalie Kalina and Boas Pucker and Prisca Viehöver and Sarah Breitenbach and Bernd Weißhaar and Tony Heitkam and Daniela Holtgräwe},
journal = {BMC Genomics},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1186/s12864-026-13276-8},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-026-13276-8},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Decoding the autotetraploid origin of the stress-tolerant wild beet Beta corolliflora
AU - Katharina Sielemann
AU - Nicola Schmidt
AU - Jonas Guzik
AU - Natalie Kalina
AU - Boas Pucker
AU - Prisca Viehöver
AU - Sarah Breitenbach
AU - Bernd Weißhaar
AU - Tony Heitkam
AU - Daniela Holtgräwe
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/26
JO - BMC Genomics
DO - 10.1186/s12864-026-13276-8
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-026-13276-8
AB - BACKGROUND: Most crop plants, including sugar beet (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris), suffer from domestication bottlenecks and low genetic diversity caused by extensive selection for few traits. However, crop wild relatives (CWRs) harbour useful traits relevant for crop improvement, including enhanced adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses. Especially polyploids are interesting from an evolutionary perspective as the genome undergoes reorganisation after the polyploidisation event. Through neo- and subfunctionalisation, novel gene functions emerge, which enable plants to cope with changing environments and extreme/harsh conditions. To introduce such resilience traits into breeding material, CWRs have already been identified as an important source for sustainable breeding. For beets, the section Corollinae contains the tetraploid species Beta corolliflora (2n = 4x = 36) that is believed to harbour salt and frost tolerances as well as a wealth of pathogen resistances. The number of beneficial traits of B. corolliflora is increased compared to those of the known diploids in this section (all 2n = 2x = 18). Nevertheless, neither the parental relationships of B. corolliflora have been resolved, nor are genomic resources available to steer sustainable, genomics-informed breeding. RESULTS: To benefit from the resources offered by (polyploid) beet wild relatives, we generated and evaluated genome resources and assemblies for four different sugar beet wild relatives - Beta corolliflora (tetraploid), Beta lomatogona (diploid), Beta macrorhiza (diploid), and as an outgroup Patellifolia procumbens (diploid). We combined cytogenetic, k-mer-, and gene-based approaches that present strong evidence for the parental relationship of the B. corolliflora wild beet as an autotetraploid emerging from B. macrorhiza. Together with the publicly available genome sequences of two additional wild beets, we identified genomic regions absent from the cultivated beet, providing a sequence database harbouring traits relevant for future breeding endeavours. CONCLUSION: The provided evidence for the evolutionary history of wild beets, especially Beta corolliflora`s derivation from the diploid B. macrorhiza, resolves long-standing questions and highlights how genomic data can clarify crop evolution and support breeding.
SN - 1471-2164
ER -