Query (optional)   in Class  All Allele Author Colleague Collection Assembly Gene Gene Class Gene Product Germplasm Image Journal Keyword Library Locus Map Map Data Marker Pathology Polymorphism Probe Protein QTL Rearrangement Reference Sequence Species Trait Trait Study Two Point Data  

---

GrainGenes Reference Report: PNA-112-E5401

[Submit comment/correction]

Reference	PNA-112-E5401
Title	Identification of the VERNALIZATION 4 gene reveals the origin of spring growth habit in ancient wheats from South Asia.
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA
Year	2015
Volume	112
Pages	E5401-E5410
Author	[ Hide all but 1 of 9 ] Kippes N Debernardi JM Vasquez-Gross HA Akpinar BA Budak H Kato K Chao S Akhunov E Dubcovsky J
Abstract	A precise regulation of flowering time is critical for plant reproductive success and for cereal crops to maximize grain production. In wheat, barley, and other temperate cereals, vernalization genes play an important role in the acceleration of reproductive development after long periods of low temperatures during the winter (vernalization). In this study, we identified VERNALIZATION 4 (VRN-D4), a vernalization gene that was critical for the development of spring growth habit in the ancient wheats from South Asia. We show that mutations in regulatory regions of VRN-D4 are shared with other VRN-A1 alleles and can be used to modulate the vernalization response. These previously unknown alleles provide breeders new tools to engineer wheat varieties better adapted to different or changing environments.Wheat varieties with a winter growth habit require long exposures to low temperatures (vernalization) to accelerate flowering. Natural variation in four vernalization genes regulating this requirement has favored wheat adaptation to different environments. The first three genes (VRN1-VRN3) have been cloned and characterized before. Here we show that the fourth gene, VRN-D4, originated by the insertion of a ~290-kb region from chromosome arm 5AL into the proximal region of chromosome arm 5DS. The inserted 5AL region includes a copy of VRN-A1 that carries distinctive mutations in its coding and regulatory regions. Three lines of evidence confirmed that this gene is VRN-D4: it cosegregated with VRN-D4 in a high-density mapping population; it was expressed earlier than other VRN1 genes in the absence of vernalization; and induced mutations in this gene resulted in delayed flowering. VRN-D4 was found in most accessions of the ancient subspecies Triticum aestivum ssp. sphaerococcum from South Asia. This subspecies showed a significant reduction of genetic diversity and increased genetic differentiation in the centromeric region of chromosome 5D, suggesting that VRN-D4 likely contributed to local adaptation and was favored by positive selection. Three adjacent SNPs in a regulatory region of the VRN-D4 first intron disrupt the binding of GLYCINE-RICH RNA-BINDING PROTEIN 2 (TaGRP2), a known repressor of VRN1 expression. The same SNPs were identified in VRN-A1 alleles previously associated with reduced vernalization requirement. These alleles can be used to modulate vernalization requirements and to develop wheat varieties better adapted to different or changing environments.
External Databases	DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1514883112

GrainGenes is a product of the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture.