bims-plasge Biomed News
on Plastid genes
Issue of 2018‒12‒30
two papers selected by
Vera S. Bogdanova
Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
  1. Genetic diversity patterns and domestication origin of soybean.
  2. Genetic modification of spikelet arrangement in wheat increases grain number without significantly affecting grain weight.
  1. Theor Appl Genet. 2018 Dec 26.
    Genetic diversity patterns and domestication origin of soybean.
    Soon-Chun Jeong, Jung-Kyung Moon, Soo-Kwon Park, Myung-Shin Kim, Kwanghee Lee, Soo Rang Lee, Namhee Jeong, Man Soo Choi, Namshin Kim, Sung-Taeg Kang, Euiho Park.
      KEY MESSAGE: Genotyping data of a comprehensive Korean soybean collection obtained using a large SNP array were used to clarify global distribution patterns of soybean and address the evolutionary history of soybean. Understanding diversity and evolution of a crop is an essential step to implement a strategy to expand its germplasm base for crop improvement research. Accessions intensively collected from Korea, which is a small but central region in the distribution geography of soybean, were genotyped to provide sufficient data to underpin population genetic questions. After removing natural hybrids and duplicated or redundant accessions, we obtained a non-redundant set comprising 1957 domesticated and 1079 wild accessions to perform population structure analyses. Our analysis demonstrates that while wild soybean germplasm will require additional sampling from diverse indigenous areas to expand the germplasm base, the current domesticated soybean germplasm is saturated in terms of genetic diversity. We then showed that our genome-wide polymorphism map enabled us to detect genetic loci underlying flower color, seed-coat color, and domestication syndrome. A representative soybean set consisting of 194 accessions was divided into one domesticated subpopulation and four wild subpopulations that could be traced back to their geographic collection areas. Population genomics analyses suggested that the monophyletic group of domesticated soybeans was likely originated at a Japanese region. The results were further substantiated by a phylogenetic tree constructed from domestication-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms identified in this study.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-018-3271-7
  2. Mol Genet Genomics. 2018 Dec 27.
    Genetic modification of spikelet arrangement in wheat increases grain number without significantly affecting grain weight.
    Gizaw M Wolde, Martin Mascher, Thorsten Schnurbusch.
      Crop yield is determined by the acquisition and allocation of photoassimilates in sink organs. Therefore, genetic modification of sink size is essential for understanding the complex signaling network regulating sink strength and source activities. Sink size in wheat depends on the number of spikelets per spike, floret/grain number per spikelet as well as the grain weight or dry matter accumulation. Hence, increasing spikelet number and improving sink size are targets for wheat breeding. The main objective of the present work was to genetically modify the wheat spike architecture, i.e., the sink size by introgressing the 'Miracle wheat' or the bht-A1 allele into an elite durum wheat cv. Floradur. After four generations of backcrossing to the recurrent parent, Floradur (FL), we have successfully developed Near Isogenic Lines (NILs) with a modified spikelet arrangement thereby increasing spikelet and grain number per spike. Genotyping of bht-A1 NILs using the Genotyping-By-Sequencing approach revealed that the size of the introgressed donor segments carrying bht-A1 ranged from 2.3 to 38 cM. The size of the shortest donor segment introgressed into bht-A1 NILs was estimated to be 9.8 mega base pairs (Mbp). Phenotypic analysis showed that FL-bht-A1-NILs (BC3F2 and BC3F3) carry up to seven additional spikelets per spike, leading to up to 29% increase in spike dry weight at harvest (SDWh). The increased SDWh was accompanied by up to 23% more grains per spike. More interestingly, thousand kernel weight (TKW) did not show significant differences between FL-bht-A1-NILs and Floradur, suggesting that besides increasing spikelet number, bht-A1 could also be targeted for increasing grain yield in wheat. Our study suggests that the genetic modification of spikelet number in wheat can be an entry point for improving grain yield, most interestingly and also unexpectedly without the trade-off effects on TKW. Hence, FL-bht-A1-NILs are not only essential for increasing grain number, but also for understanding the molecular and genetic mechanism of the source-sink interaction for a clearer picture of the complex signaling network regulating sink strength and source activities.
    Keywords:  Genetic modification; Grain number; Near Isogenic Lines; Sink size; Source–sink; Spike; Spikelet; Spikelet arrangement; Thousand kernel weight; Wheat
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-018-1523-5
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