I presented a talk to the Plant Chromosome Biology Conference in Vienna in September 2025. The abstract was Cytogenomics of oat (Avena) genome evolution: Intra- and inter-genomic chromosomal translocations, repetitive DNA dynamics, and reconstruction of ancestral grass karyotypes show genome evolution in actionPat Heslop-Harrison1,2, Trude Schwarzacher1,2, Paulina Tomaszewska1,3, Qing Liu21University of Leicester, Institute for Environmental…
Tag: evolution
Biodiversity and Agriculture: Education and Nature at Dinghu National Reserve
My job has three parts: 1) Research in biodiversity and agricultural genetics; 2) Critical evaluation of other research through journals and reviews; and, perhaps most imprtantly, 3) Telling people about the value, interest and importance of the natural and agricultural environment. I was delighted to visit Dinghu, the first Chinese National Nature Reserve, founded in…
Food from Grass: Genetics and Digital Twins to optimize ruminant agricultural sustainability
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, generated by ruminants (cows, sheep, goats) in their rumen. The genetics of the animal, the feed and the microbiome all affect the production of methane, and digital twins are being developed to optimize productivity and reduce methane emissions from animals.
Avena longiglumis: a 3,961 Mb diploid oat genome sequence assembly
The study presents the chromosome-level genome assembly of Avena longiglumis, a diploid oat species. The assembly is high-quality, with 99% completeness and 40,845 annotated protein-coding genes. It provides insights into genome evolution, expansion, and structural variations, offering valuable information for oat breeding and functional genomics. Additionally, mitochondrial genome and comparative studies have been conducted.
Towards a banana pangenome: a new chromosome assembly in Musaceae
Our fascinating research on the diversity of genomes within the banana family in The genome assembly of Musa beccarii & evolution of banana family genomes: extensive chromosomal rearrangements & genome expansion by Zheng-Feng Wang, Mathieu Rouard @m_rouard, Gaetan Droc @GaetanDroc, Pat (J S) Heslop-Harrison @Pathh1, Xue-Jun Ge. GigaScience, Volume 12, 2023, giad005, https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giad005 @Gigascience 🍌🧬#GenomeAssembly…
Chromosomal landscapes of Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) integrated in the sheep nuclear genome
Sarbast Ihsan Mustafa, Trude Schwarzacher and John S. Heslop-Harrison The Nature and Chromosomal Landscape of Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) Integrated in the Sheep Nuclear Genome. DNA 2022, 2(1), 86-103; Free full text: https://doi.org/10.3390/dna2010007 Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) represent genomic components of retroviral origin that are found integrated in the genomes of various species of vertebrates. These genomic…
Conservation, divergence and functions of centromeric satellite DNA families in the Bovidae
350. Escudeiro A, Adega F, Robinson TJ, Heslop-Harrison JS, Chaves R. 2019. Conservation, divergence, and functions of centromeric satellite DNA families in the Bovidae. Genome Biology and Evolution 11(4):1152–1165. doi:10.1093/gbe/evz061 https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evz061 (Open access) Repetitive satellite DNA (satDNA) sequences are abundant in eukaryote genomes, with a structural and functional role in centromeric function. We analysed the nucleotide…
Bovine satellite DNAs and a history of the evolution of complexity and its impact in the Bovidae family
348. Escudeiro A, Ferreira D, Mendes-da-Silva A, Heslop-Harrison JS, Adega F, Chaves R. 2019. Bovine satellite DNAs–a history of the evolution of complexity and its impact in the Bovidae family. European Zoological Journal. 2019 Jan 1 86(1):20-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2018.1558294 (Open access) Despite the many questions regarding satellite DNA sequences and their cellular roles, the evolutionary history of…
Complete mitogenomes from Kurdistani sheep – abundant centromeric nuclear copies representing diverse ancestors
341. Mustafa SI, Schwarzacher T, and Heslop-Harrison JS. 2018. Complete mitogenomes from Kurdistani sheep: abundant centromeric nuclear copies representing diverse ancestors. Mitochondrial DNA Part A https://doi.org/10.1080/24701394.2018.1431226 (publisher – see free publisher link below if you can’t access) AND Mustafa et al_2018 AuthorVersion The geographical center of domestication and species diversity for sheep (Ovis aries) lies around the…
Repetitive DNA in the catfish genome- rDNA, microsatellites, and Tc1-mariner transposon sequences in Imparfinis
339. Gouveia JG, Wolf IR, Vilas-Boas LA, Heslop-Harrison JS, Schwarzacher T, Dias AL. 2017. Repetitive DNA in the catfish genome: rDNA, microsatellites, and Tc1-mariner transposon sequences in Imparfinis species (Siluriformes, Heptapteridae). Journal of Heredity 108(6): 650-657. Journal link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esx065 Author PHHGouveia_CatfishRepeatsAuthorVersion Physical mapping of repetitive DNA families in the karyotypes of fish is important to understand the organization and evolution…
Polyploidy and interspecific hybridisation: partners for adaptation, speciation and evolution in plants
337. Alix K, GĂ©rard PR, Schwarzacher T, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2017. Polyploidy and interspecific hybridisation: partners for adaptation, speciation and evolution in plants. Annals of Botany 120(2): 183-194. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcx079  (Free access). Polyploidy, defined as whole genome duplication, is present in almost all lineages of higher plants, with multiple rounds of polyploidy occurring in most extant species. This Annals…
Domestication, polyploidy and genomics of crops and weeds PAGXXV
Plant and Animal Genome Conference in San Diego #PAGXXV each January is the chance to join 3500 people working in genomics. I presented a talk on the molecular cytogenetics group’s work, starting with consideration of early stages of crop domestication, and then thinking about how we can make agriculture more sustainable. I also considered weeds,…
Molecular Cytogenetics Group – an infographic of what we do
Infographic: what we do in the Molecular Cytogenetics Research Group
Introgression of chromosome segments from multiple alien species in wheat breeding lines with wheat streak mosaic virus resistance
324. Ali N, Heslop-Harrison JS, Ahmad H, Graybosch RA, Hein GL, Schwarzacher T. 2016. Introgression of chromosome segments from multiple alien species in wheat breeding lines with wheat streak mosaic virus resistance. Heredity (2016) 117, 114–123; published online 1 June 2016 doi:10.1038/hdy.2016.36 Author version: N_Ali_et al 2016 Multiple Alien Introgressions in Wheat Publisher site: http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/vaop/ncurrent/pdf/hdy201636a.pdf Pyramiding of…
Analysis of Petunia vein clearing virus (PVCV) sequences, retroelements and tandem repeats in Petunia axillaris N and P. inflata S6
325a. Schwarzacher T, Heslop-Harrison JS, Richert-Pöggeler KR. 2016. Analysis of Petunia vein clearing virus (PVCV) sequences, retroelements and tandem repeats in Petunia axillaris N and P. inflata S6. Supplementary manuscript 2. Nature Plants 2: article number 16074. Link to manuscript: Petunia_PVCV_Repeats_SchwarzacherEtAl2016 Within the genome sequence assemblies of P. axillaris (PaxiN) and P. inflata (PinfS6) and unassembled reads, we…
Molecular cytogenetics, genome evolution and agricultural genomics 