Mitotic interhomolog recombination drives genomic diversity in diatoms

Diatoms, an evolutionarily successful group of microalgae, display high levels of intraspecific variability in natural populations. However, the process generating such diversity is unknown. Here we estimated the variability within a natural diatom population and subsequently mapped the genomic changes arising within cultures clonally propagated from single diatom cells. We demonstrate that genome rearrangements and mitotic recombination between homologous chromosomes underlie clonal variability, resulting in haplotype diversity accompanied by the appearance of novel protein variants and loss of heterozygosity resulting in the fixation of alleles. The frequency of interhomolog mitotic recombination exceeds 4 out of 100 cell divisions and increases under environmental stress. We propose that this plastic response in the interhomolog mitotic recombination rate increases the evolutionary potential of diatoms, contributing to their ecological success. One Sentence SummaryRecombination between homologous chromosomes in diatom vegetative cells leads to extensive genomic diversity in clonal populations.