The paper describes a scientific study investigating how autopolyploid genomes return to a diploid state, focusing on snow carp (Schizothoracinae) as a primary model. Researchers utilized haplotype-resolved genome assemblies to demonstrate that these fish originated from a single ancestral whole-genome duplication event. The text explains that unbalanced chromosome fusions acted as the initial catalyst for rediploidization, causing a transition from tetrasomic to disomic inheritance. This process is asynchronous, beginning at fusion sites and gradually moving toward the ends of chromosome arms. The findings reveal that such genomic restructuring leads to biased gene loss and divergent expression patterns between duplicated gene pairs. Ultimately, the study suggests that these chromosomal changes provide the genetic raw material necessary for evolutionary adaptation and diversification in vertebrates.

References:

• Xie C, Ma Z, Zhou C, et al. Chromosomal fusions trigger rediploidization of autopolyploid genomes[J]. Nature, 2026: 1-8.