Comparative mapping reveals autosomal origin of sex chromosome in octoploid Fragaria virginiana.

Recent evolution of separate sexes in flowering plants provides unparalleled opportunities for understanding the early stages of sex chromosome evolution, including their origin from autosomes. Moreover, the transition from combined to separate sexes can be associated with speciation via polyploidization in angiosperms, suggesting that genome doubling/merger may facilitate sterility mutations required for sex chromosome formation. To gain insight into the origin of sex chromosomes in a polyploid plant, we doubled the simple sequence repeat (SSR) density and increased genome coverage in a genetic map of octoploid Fragaria virginiana, a species purported to have a "proto-sex" chromosome, where limited recombination occurs between 2 linked "loci" carrying the male- and female-sterility mutations. Incorporation of almost 3 times the number of SSR markers into the current map facilitated complete characterization of the F. virginiana proto-sex chromosome, revealing its largely autosomal nature and the location of the sex-determining region toward the distal end. Furthermore, extensive synteny between our genetic map and a map involving diploid hermaphroditic congeners allowed assignment of linkage groups to homeologous groups, identification of the proto-sex chromosome's autosomal homoeolog, and detection of a putative rearrangement near the sex-determining region. Fine mapping and additional comparative work will shed light on the intriguing possibility that rearrangements during polyploidization were involved in the evolution of sex chromosomes in Fragaria.