Reduced chromatin accessibility underlies gene expression differences in homologous chromosome arms of diploid Aegilops tauschii and hexaploid wheat.

Polyploidy is centrally important in the evolution and domestication of plants because it leads to major genomic changes, such as altered patterns of gene expression, which are thought to underlie the emergence of new traits. Despite the common occurrence of these globally altered patterns of gene expression in polyploids, the mechanisms involved are not well understood.