2026-10-14T15:43:28Z https://www.scidb.cn/oai

10.57760/sciencedb.38466 2026-06-04T11:28:55Z

2026-06-04 Polyploidy Facilitated Survival and Alpine Adaptation of Species-rich Subtribe Tussilagininae (Asteraceae: Senecioneae) during Middle Miocene Global Cooling and Andean uplift doi:10.57760/sciencedb.38466 en Polyploidy is an important evolutionary mechanism increasingly linked to plant survival during climate upheaval. Yet, well-documented cases with robust evidence remain rare. We here investigate subtribe Tussilagininae (Asteraceae: Senecioneae), a species-rich group with a complex origin involving three successive allopolyploid events. Using genome-scale homeolog phasing and extensive fossil calibrations, we show that two allopolyploidy events giving rise to Tussilagininae s.s. occurred at ~14–13.4 Ma, followed by a third event forming the Andean Gynoxyoid group at ~5.3 Ma. Significantly, these estimates are robust to random fossil calibration subsampling and coincide closely with the major climate cooling during Middle Miocene and rapid Andean uplift, respectively, suggesting that polyploidy facilitated Tussilagininae’s survival and adaptation during severe temperature declines. This hypothesis is further supported by Tussilagininae’s distinctive preference for alpine habitats, and by significant post-polyploidization expansion of C-repeat binding factors (CBFs), the key regulators of cold tolerance. These results provide a well-resolved case with robust temporal, ecological, and genetic evidence, corroborating polyploidy’s critical role in plant survival during climate disruption. Moreover, together with previous studies, our findings highlight polyploidy as a recurrent and effective strategy with a remarkable capacity to enhance plant survival under diverse environmental stresses. Polyploidy; Asteraceae; Senecioneae; Tussilagininae ; plant survivial; Alpine Adaptation Chen Ren PUBLIC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ dataset Science Data Bank