Genome of the early spider-orchid Ophrys sphegodes provides insights into sexual deception and pollinator adaptation

Russo, Alessia; Alessandrini, Mattia; El Baidouri, Moaine; Frei, Daniel; Galise, Teresa Rosa; Gaidusch, Lara; Oertel, Hannah F; Garcia Morales, Sara E; Potente, Giacomo; Tian, Qin; Smetanin, Dmitry; Bertrand, Joris A M; Onstein, Renske E; Panaud, Olivier; Frey, Jürg E; Cozzolino, Salvatore; Wicker, Thomas; Xu, Shuqing; Grossniklaus, Ueli; Schlüter, Philipp M

doi:10.1038/s41467-024-50622-4

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Russo, A., Alessandrini, M., El Baidouri, M., Frei, D., Galise, T. R., Gaidusch, L., Oertel, H. F., Garcia Morales, S. E., Potente, G., Tian, Q., Smetanin, D., Bertrand, J. A. M., Onstein, R. E., Panaud, O., Frey, J. E., Cozzolino, S., Wicker, T., Xu, S., Grossniklaus, U., & Schlüter, P. M. (2024). Genome of the early spider-orchid Ophrys sphegodes provides insights into sexual deception and pollinator adaptation. Nature Communications, 15(1), 6308. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-50622-4

Abstract

Pollinator-driven evolution of floral traits is thought to be a major driver of angiosperm speciation and diversification. Ophrys orchids mimic female insects to lure male pollinators into pseudocopulation. This strategy, called sexual deception, is species-specific, thereby providing strong premating reproductive isolation. Identifying the genomic architecture underlying pollinator adaptation and speciation may shed light on the mechanisms of angiosperm diversification. Here, we report the 5.2 Gb chromosome-scale genome sequence of O