Gene Duplication and Aneuploidy Trigger Rapid Evolution of Herbicide Resistance in Common Waterhemp.

An increase in gene copy number is often associated with changes in the number and structure of chromosomes, as has been widely observed in yeast and eukaryotic tumors, yet little is known about stress-induced chromosomal changes in plants. Previously, we reported that the EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) gene, the molecular target of glyphosate, was amplified at the native locus and on an extra chromosome in glyphosate-resistant Amaranthus tuberculatus Here, we report that the extra chromosome is a ring chromosome termed extra circular chromosome carrying amplified EPSPS (ECCAE). The ECCAE is heterochromatic, harbors four major EPSPS amplified foci, and is sexually transmitted to 35% of the progeny. Two highly glyphosate resistant (HGR) A. tuberculatus plants with a chromosome constitution of 2n = 32+1 ECCAE displayed soma cell heterogeneity. Some cells had secondary ECCAEs, which displayed size polymorphisms and produced novel chromosomal variants with multiple gene amplification foci. We hypothesize that the ECCAE in the soma cells of HGR A. tuberculatus plants underwent breakage-fusion-bridge cycles to generate the observed soma cell heterogeneity, including de novo EPSPS gene integration into chromosomes. Resistant soma cells with stable EPSPS amplification events as de novo insertions into chromosomes may survive glyphosate selection pressure during the sporophytic phase and are plausibly transmitted to germ cells leading to durable glyphosate resistance in A. tuberculatus This is the first report of early events in aneuploidy-triggered de novo chromosome integration by an as yet unknown mechanism, which may drive rapid adaptive evolution of herbicide resistance in common waterhemp.