Robin Burns

Panagram reveals pangenome architectures underlying trait variation in plants and animals

Alignment-free pan-k-mer profiles track minimap2 similarity (whole-chromosome r^2 0.959-0.968), profile 605 vertebrate genomes in about a day on 40 cores, and nominate trait-linked loci across plants and animals.

An atlas of eukaryotic centromere architecture reveals recurrent evolutionary dynamics

Across 325 Darwin Tree of Life genomes, satellite-array and transposon-cluster centromeres are phylogenetically scattered, fitting a model of repeated interconversion; satellites share higher-order repeat structure but not sequence.

The Nature of Centromeric Repeat Turnovers in the genus Arabidopsis

This study identifies centromeric repeat turnovers in Arabidopsis species, revealing evolutionary mechanisms and the role of genetic drift and centromere drive in repeat replacement.

CRISPR-mediated centromere fission generates neo-chromosomes with distorted meiotic inheritance in Arabidopsis

This study uses CRISPR to reposition centromeres in Arabidopsis, showing how neo-chromosomes with altered centromere positions lead to meiotic segregation distortion and aneuploidy.

Centromeric origin of megabase-scale Arabidopsis interstitial telomeric repeat domains

The paper identifies centromeres as a source of telomeric sequences in Arabidopsis, showing ITR domains arise from centromeres through amplification and adopt a distinct chromatin state.

Natural variation modifies centromere proximal meiotic crossover frequency and segregation distortion in Arabidopsis thaliana

The paper investigates how natural genetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana affects centromere-proximal crossover frequency and segregation distortion during meiosis.

Diploid origins and early genome stabilization in the allotetraploid Arabidopsis suecica

This study investigates the origin and early genome evolution of Arabidopsis suecica, identifying de novo adaptation and functional compensation between homeologous genes.

CRISPR targeting of H3K4me3 activates gene expression and unlocks centromere-proximal crossover recombination in Arabidopsis

This study uses CRISPR to target H3K4me3 methyltransferases in Arabidopsis, showing activation of gene expression and increased meiotic crossover recombination near centromeres.

Multiple polyploidizations in Arabidopsis lyrata stabilized by long-range adaptive introgression across Eurasia

The paper identifies multiple origins of autotetraploidy in Arabidopsis lyrata across Eurasia and shows how adaptive introgression stabilizes these polyploid forms.

Structural variation and DNA methylation shape the centromere-proximal meiotic crossover landscape in Arabidopsis

The paper maps meiotic crossover landscapes near centromeres in Arabidopsis, showing suppression linked to structural variation and DNA methylation.

Extensive gene duplication in Arabidopsis revealed by pseudo-heterozygosity

The paper identifies 2500 putatively duplicated genes in Arabidopsis thaliana by analyzing SNP calls from short-read sequencing and validates them using de novo genome assemblies.