Gene copy number variations involved in balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.) adaptive variations

Gene copy number variations (CNVs) involved in phenotypic variations have already been shown in plants, but genome-wide testing of CNVs for adaptive variation was not doable until recent technological developments. Thus, reports of the genomic architecture of adaptation involving CNVs remain scarce to date. Here, we investigated F1 progenies of an intra-provenance cross (north-north cross, 58th parallel) and an inter-provenances cross (north-south cross, 58th/49th parallels) for CNVs using comparative genomic hybridization on arrays of probes targeting gene sequences in balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera L.), a wide-spread North American forest tree. Results: A total of 1,721 genes were found in varying copy numbers over the set of 19,823 tested genes. These gene CNVs presented an estimated average size of 8.3 kb and were distributed over poplar’s 19 chromosomes including 22 hotspot regions. Gene CNVs number was higher for the inter-provenance progeny in accordance with an expected higher genetic diversity related to the composite origin of this family. Regression analyses between gene CNVs and seven adaptive trait variations resulted in 23 significant links; among these adaptive gene CNVs, 30% were located in hotspots. One-to-five gene CNVs were found related to each of the measured adaptive traits and annotated for both biotic and abiotic stress responses. These annotations can be related to the occurrence of a higher pathogenic pressure in the southern parts of balsam poplar’s distribution, and higher photosynthetic assimilation rates and water-use efficiency at high-latitudes. Overall, our findings suggest that gene CNVs typically having higher mutation rates than SNPs, may in fact represent efficient adaptive variations against fast-evolving pathogens. A total of 34 individuals were hybridized (17 in each dye) in addition to 12 reference DNA (6 in each dye). Reference DNAs were corrected for day and batch effect and averaged within each dye. Afterwards, each sample was compared to this average representation of the reference in the opposite dye.