Genomics and adaptive divergence of the allopolyploid grass Brachypodium hybridum in a pangenotypic framework

Natural allopolyploids with multiple origins are powerful systems for analyzing genome evolution; however, population-level whole-genome studies of wild-type recurrent polyploids remain scarce.

We investigated the origins and evolutionary dynamics of the allotetraploid grass Brachypodium hybridum and its diploid progenitors ( B. distachyon , B. stacei ) by combining whole-genome sequencing of 307 accessions from across the circum-Mediterranean region with phylogenomics, population genomics, and comparative subgenomic analyses.

Nuclear and plastome phylogenies reveal three independent allopolyploidization events: an ancient Iberian origin (∼1.78 Ma) and two more recent origins in the western (∼0.56 Ma) and eastern (∼0.24 Ma) Mediterranean. Each subgenome (D and S) evolved independently with minimal recombination. All B. hybridum lineages carry higher deleterious loads than their diploid progenitors, and the Ancient lineage carries a disproportionately heavy burden, particularly in the S subgenome. Population structure identifies three genetic groups; while the Ancient lineage remained isolated, recent western and eastern lineages exchanged migrants in the eastern Mediterranean contact zone.

Brachypodium hybridum exemplifies how recurrent allopolyploidization, minimal subgenomic recombination, and environmental filtering generate and maintain genetic diversity, establishing it as a model for polyploid evolution and ecological adaptation in grasses worldwide.