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Vernalization requirement duration in winter wheat is controlled by T a VRN ‐ A 1 at the protein level
Author(s) -
Li Genqiao,
Yu Ming,
Fang Tilin,
Cao Shuanghe,
Carver Brett F.,
Yan Liuling
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the plant journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.058
H-Index - 269
eISSN - 1365-313X
pISSN - 0960-7412
DOI - 10.1111/tpj.12326
Subject(s) - vernalization , biology , bimolecular fluorescence complementation , complementation , gene , genetics , allele , common wheat , winter wheat , botany , mutant , chromosome , agronomy
Summary Winter wheat requires a period of low temperatures to accelerate flowering (vernalization). This requirement could make winter wheat more vulnerable to elevated global temperature via insufficient vernalization. All known vernalization genes are cloned according to qualitative variation in vernalization requirement between spring and winter wheat, but the genes controlling quantitative variation for more or less vernalization requirement among winter wheat cultivars remain unknown. We report here that the gene for the vernalization requirement duration in winter wheat was cloned using a BC 1 F 2:3 population that segregated in a 3:1 ratio of early‐flowering plants and late‐flowering plants after vernalization for 3 weeks. The positional cloning of the gene for vernalization requirement duration demonstrated that this trait is controlled by Ta VRN ‐ A 1 at the protein level. The A la 180 in vrn‐ A 1a, encoded by the dominant allele for 3–week vernalization, was mutated to V al 180 in vrn‐ A 1b, encoded by the recessive allele for 6–week vernalization. Further studies with in vitro protein pull‐down assays and immunoprecipitation analyses indicated that the mutated V al 180 in vrn‐ A 1b protein decreased the ability to bind with T a HOX 1 (the first homeobox protein in Triticum aestivum ). The direct binding of Ta VRN ‐A1 and Ta HOX 1 proteins was confirmed in the nucleus of living plant cells by bimolecular fluorescence complementation ( B i FC ) analyses. The Ta HOX 1 gene was found to be upregulated by low temperatures, and to have a significant genetic effect on heading date, suggesting that Ta HOX 1 functions in the flowering pathway in winter wheat.