<i>WUSCHEL-D1</i> upregulation enhances grain number by inducing formation of multiovary-producing florets in wheat
Abstract
Innovative genetic improvements in food crops are needed to maintain global food security. Here, we report the map-based cloning of TaWUSCHEL-D1 ( WUS-D1 ) as the gene responsible for the multiovary phenotype in wheat, which produces three fertile ovaries and grains per floret. We generated a 14.5 Gbp chromosome-level assembly of multiovary wheat line “MOV” that shows unique structural variation in the Mov-1 physical region, resulting in widespread gene upregulation. High-resolution genetic mapping refined the locus to a 135 kbp region that contains two genes. We used nine independent deletion mutants, eight TILLING mutants, and genetic complementation of these genotypes to show that a WUSCHEL ortholog, WUS-D1 , is the causal gene of the Mov-1 locus. Expression studies showed that WUS-D1 is highly expressed during early inflorescence development in MOV, whereas the gene is inactive in wild-type wheat. The higher WUS-D1 expression is associated with the formation of larger meristems and floret primordia that are competent to produce multiple ovaries. These insights provide a foundation to manipulate floral organ numbers to enhance breeding capabilities of bread wheat.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (36)
Adam Schoen
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Guilherme V. Yoshikawa
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide
Parva Kumar Sharma
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Alex Mahlandt
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Yi Chen
Huajin Sheng
Leon Kochian
Peng Gao
Daoquan Xiang
Teagen D. Quilichini
Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan
Prakash Venglat
Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan
Sheng Wang
Inderjit Singh Yadav
School of Agricultural Biotechnology, Punjab Agricultural University
Robert Sablowski
Cell and Developmental Biology, John Innes Centre
Yuqi Wang
Peng Zhang
Annabel Whibley
Grapevine Improvement Laboratory, Bragato Research Institute
Amy Hill
Grapevine Improvement Laboratory, Bragato Research Institute
Yong Gu
Daniel Rodriguez-Leal
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Weifeng Luo
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Yiping Qi
Nathan Meier
Department of Plant Biology, University of California
Anmol Kajla
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Matthew Willman
Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University
Gina Brown-Guedira
US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Southeast Area, Plant Science Research
Sheron A Simpson
Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology, Mississippi State University
Ramey C. Youngblood
Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing and Biotechnology, Mississippi State University
Amanda Hulse-Kemp
Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service
Angus Murphy
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Bikram Gill
Department of Plant Pathology, Kansas State University
Cristobal Uauy
Raju Datla
Nidhi Rawat
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland
Scott A. Boden
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide
Vijay Tiwari
Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland