Assessment of gene copy number in the homosporous ferns Ceratopteris thalictroides and C. richardii ( Parkeriaceae ) by restriction fragment length polymorphisms

Abstract

Homosporous ferns are generally considered polyploid due to high chromosome numbers, but genetically diploid since the expression of isozymes is generally controlled by a single locus. Gene silencing over evolutionary time is one means by which this apparent contradiction can be explained. A prediction of this hypothesis is that silenced gene sequences still reside in the genomes of homosporous ferns. We examined the genomes of Ceratopteris richardii and C. thalictroides for sequences which are similar to expressed gene sequences. Genomic DNA blots hybridized with C. richardii cDNA clones showed that the majority of these clones detected multiple fragments, suggesting that most gene-like sequences are duplicated in Ceratopteris. Hybridization signal intensity often varied between fragments of the same size between accessions, sometimes dramatically, which indicates that not all sequences are equivalent, and may represent the products of silenced genes. Observed reciprocal differences in intensity could be due to reciprocally silenced genes. In addition, an unusual segregation pattern for one locus followed by one probe may indicate homeologous chromosome pairing and segregation.