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Leaf primordium size specifies leaf width and vein number among row‐type classes in barley
Author(s) -
Thirulogachandar Venkatasubbu,
Alqudah Ahmad M.,
Koppolu Ravi,
Rutten Twan,
Graner Andreas,
Hensel Goetz,
Kumlehn Jochen,
Bräutigam Andrea,
Sreenivasulu Nese,
Schnurbusch Thorsten,
Kuhlmann Markus
Publication year - 2017
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.13590
Subject(s) - biology , primordium , mutant , domestication , hordeum vulgare , gene , population , locus (genetics) , anthesis , genetics , wild type , botany , phenotype , horticulture , cultivar , poaceae , demography , sociology
Summary Exploring genes with impact on yield‐related phenotypes is the preceding step to accomplishing crop improvements while facing a growing world population. A genome‐wide association scan on leaf blade area ( LA ) in a worldwide spring barley collection ( Hordeum vulgare L.), including 125 two‐ and 93 six‐rowed accessions, identified a gene encoding the homeobox transcription factor, Six‐rowed spike 1 ( VRS 1). VRS 1 was previously described as a key domestication gene affecting spike development. Its mutation converts two‐rowed (wild‐type VRS 1 , only central fertile spikelets) into six‐rowed spikes (mutant vrs1 , fully developed fertile central and lateral spikelets). Phenotypic analyses of mutant and wild‐type leaves revealed that mutants had an increased leaf width with more longitudinal veins. The observed significant increase of LA and leaf nitrogen (%) during pre‐anthesis development in vrs1 mutants also implies a link between wider leaf and grain number, which was validated from the association of vrs1 locus with wider leaf and grain number. Histological and gene expression analyses indicated that VRS 1 might influence the size of leaf primordia by affecting cell proliferation of leaf primordial cells. This finding was supported by the transcriptome analysis of mutant and wild‐type leaf primordia where in the mutant transcriptional activation of genes related to cell proliferation was detectable. Here we show that VRS 1 has an independent role on barley leaf development which might influence the grain number.