The ability of climbing plants to grow upward along others to reach the canopy for photosynthesis is hypothesized as a key innovation in flowering plants. Most members of the Cucurbitaceae, a family containing ∼1000 species and many important crops, are climbers and have characteristic tendrils and pepo fruits. Here, we present 127 newly sequenced transcriptomes and genomes along with other datasets for a total of 136 cucurbits representing all tribes to establish a robust Cucurbitaceae phylogeny containing eight highly resolved major clades. We analyzed whole-genome duplication, diversification dynamics, and ancestral morphologies, and found that after early genome duplication event(s), a burst of diversification and morphological innovations in flower, fruit, and root characters occurred under the climate optimum in the Early Eocene. Species radiation during the Mid-Eocene Climatic Optimum also coincided with several morphological changes shared by 80% of cucurbits. We found that the cucurbit-specific tendril identity gene TEN originated from a paleo-polyploidization event at the origin of the family. Our results support the hypothesis that cucurbit diversifications were probably driven by increased genetic diversity following polyploidizations and by trait morphological innovations under paleo-climate upheavals. Our study provides a phylogenetic framework and new insights into morphological and genomic changes underlying the adaptive evolution of Cucurbitaceae.

人们认为，攀援植物与其他植物一起向上生长以达到光合作用的冠层的能力是开花植物的一项关键创新。葫芦科的大多数成员是一个约有1000种植物和许多重要农作物的科目，都是攀缘植物，并具有卷须和pepo果实的特征。在这里，我们介绍了127个新测序的转录组和基因组，以及其他数据集，总共代表所有部落的136个葫芦科植物，以建立一个稳固的葫芦科系统发育史，其中包含8个高度分辨的主要进化枝。我们分析了全基因组复制，多样化动态和祖先形态，发现在早期基因组复制事件发生后，在始新世早期气候最佳的情况下，花，果实和根部性状爆发了一系列多样化和形态创新。 。在始新世中期气候最佳期间，物种辐射也与80％葫芦科共有几种形态变化同时发生。我们发现葫芦丝特异性卷须同一性基因TEN起源于家族起源的古多倍化事件。我们的结果支持以下假设：葫芦科植物多样化可能是由于多倍体化之后遗传多样性的增加以及古气候动荡下的性状形态创新所驱动。我们的研究为葫芦科的适应性进化提供了系统发育的框架和对形态和基因组变化的新见解。