<i>FLOWERING LOCUS T2</i> regulates spike development and fertility in temperate cereals

Shaw, Lindsay M.; Lyu, Bo; Turner, Rebecca M.; Li, Chengxia; Chen, Fengjuan; Han, Xiuli; Fu, Daolin; Dubcovsky, Jorge

doi:10.1093/jxb/ery350

Cited by 86 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Since there is a known positive feedback regulatory loop between VRN1 and FT1 (Shaw et al, 2019), we compared the FT1 transcript levels in the leaves of the different VRN1 , FUL2 and FUL3 mutant combinations. FT1 transcript levels higher than ACTIN were observed in leaves of 4-week old plants carrying the VRN1 wild type allele, but were detected only after 10 weeks in plants carrying the vrn1 -null allele (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WheatVRN1,FUL2andFUL3play critical and redundant roles in spikelet development and spike determinacy

Lin

Chen

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Word count: 6994 (6378 + 616 figure legends) 16 SUMMARY STATEMENT 17 The wheat MADS-box proteins VRN1, FUL2 and FUL3 play critical and overlapping roles in 18 the development of spikelets, which are the basic unit of all grass inflorescences.19 2 ABSTRACT 20The spikelet is the basic unit of the grass inflorescence. In this study, we show that wheat 21 MADS-box genes VRN1, FUL2 and FUL3 play critical and redundant roles in spikelet and spike 22 development, and also affect flowering time and plant height. In the vrn1ful2ful3-null triple 23 mutant, the inflorescence meristem formed a normal double-ridge structure, but then the lateral 24 meristems generated vegetative tillers subtended by leaves instead of spikelets. These results 25 suggest an essential role of these three genes in the determination of spikelet meristem identity 26 and the suppression of the lower ridge. Inflorescence meristems of vrn1ful2ful3-null and 27 vrn1ful2-null remained indeterminate and single vrn1-null and ful2-null mutants showed delayed 28 formation of the terminal spikelet and increased number of spikelets per spike. Moreover, the 29 ful2-null mutant showed more florets per spikelet, which together with a higher number of 30 spikelets, resulted in a significant increase in the number of grains per spike in the field. Our 31 results suggest that a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying wheat spikelet and 32 spike development can inform future strategies to improve grain yield in wheat. 33 34 35 3 65 4reiterates the development of leafy shoots (Ferrándiz et al., 2000). In rice, combined loss-of-66 function mutations in OsMADS14 (ortholog of VRN1) and OsMADS15 (ortholog of FUL2) 67 resulted in inflorescences with leaf-like organs on top of the primary branches (Wu et al., 2017). 68Simultaneous knockdown of OsMADS14, OsMADS15 and OsMAD18 (ortholog of FUL3) in a 69 Ospap2 (a SEPALLATA subfamily MADS-box) mutant background eliminated the formation of 70 primary branches, and resulted in the formation of lateral vegetative tillers subtended by leaves 71 (Kobayashi et al., 2012). 72 MIKC-type MADS-box proteins have a highly conserved MADS DNA-binding domain, an 73 Intervening (I) domain, a Keratin-like (K) domain, and a C-terminal domain. These proteins bind 74 as dimers to DNA sequences named 'CArG' boxes, and organize in tetrameric complexes that 75 can recognize different CArG boxes. The multimeric nature of these complexes generates a large 76 number of combinatorial possibilities with different targets and functions (Honma and Goto, 77 2001); (Theissen et al., 2016). 78The closest homologs to the Arabidopsis MADS-box genes AP1, CAL and FUL in the grass 79 lineage are VERNALIZATION 1 (VRN1), FUL2 and FUL3. A phylogenetic analysis of the 80 proteins encoded by these genes (Fig. S1) indicates that the Arabidopsis and grass proteins have 81 independent sub-functionalization stories (Preston and Kellogg, 2006). In the grass lineage, the 82 VRN1 and FUL2 clades are closer to each other than to the FUL3 clade (Preston and Ke...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

WheatVRN1,FUL2andFUL3play critical and redundant roles in spikelet development and spike determinacy

Lin

Chen

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Low expression levels of VRN-H1, BM3 and BM8in Ubi::HvFT4 plants might have caused the 379 delay in spikelet initiation However, and reduced floret fertility and grain set. It has already 380 been demonstrated that FT1, FT2, and the BM genes affect floret fertility and grain set (Digel 381 et al, 2015;Ejaz et al, 2017;Shaw et al, 2019). We therefore conclude that the downregulation 382 of BM-like genes and consequently HvFT1 and HvFT2 in the inflorescence has contributed to 383 the reduction in fertility and grain set of the main and axillary shoots.…”

Section: Discussion 340mentioning

confidence: 64%

“…While HvFT1 is only 86 expressed and induces flowering under LD conditions, the homolog HvFT3 is expressed and 87 promotes reproductive development under long and short-day conditions (Mulki et al, 2018). 88 Experiments in wheat, barley, Brachypodium and rice suggested that FT2 is a floral promoter, 89 downstream of FT1 and expressed in the leaf as well as in the inflorescence (Kikuchi et al, 90 2009;Lv et al, 2014;Digel et al, 2015;Shaw et al, 2019). 91…”

Section: Introduction 37mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overexpression of HvFT4 prolonged vegetative growth and delayed 343 spikelet initiation. The effects of HvFT4 were antagonistic to those of HvFT1, HvFT2 and 344HvFT3, which promote spikelet initiation and inflorescence development in barley(Digel et 345 al., 2015, Mulki et al, 2018Shaw et al 2019). Typically, a delay in reproductive development 346 and reduction in apical dominance are associated with an increase in the number of spikelets 347 and tillers in barley(Digel et al, 2015;Bi et al, 2019).…”

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FLOWERING LOCUS T4 (HvFT4)delays flowering and decreases floret fertility in barley

Pieper

Tomé

Schmising

2020

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21 FLOWERING LOCUS T-like genes (FT-like) control the photoperiodic regulation of flowering 22 in many angiosperm plants. The family of FT-like genes is characterised by extensive gene 23 duplication and subsequent diversification of FT functions which occurred independently in 24 modern angiosperm lineages. In barley, there are 12 known FT-like genes (HvFT) but the 25 function of most of them remains uncharacterised. This study aimed to characterise the role of 26 HvFT4 in flowering time control and development in barley. The overexpression of HvFT4 in 27 the spring cultivar Golden Promise delayed flowering time under long-day conditions. 28 Microscopic dissection of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) revealed that overexpression of 29 HvFT4 specifically delayed spikelet initiation and reduced the number of spikelet primordia 30 and grains per spike. Furthermore, ectopic overexpression of HvFT4 was associated with floret 31 abortion and with the downregulation of the barley MADS-box genes VRN-H1, HvBM3 and 32 HvBM8 which promote floral development. This suggests that HvFT4 functions as a repressor 33 of reproductive development in barley. Unraveling the genetic basis of FT-like genes can 34 contribute to the identification of novel breeding targets to modify reproductive development 35 and thereby spike morphology and grain yield. 36

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“…Cadenza. Expression of the gene is higher in Avalon and higher expression of FT2 has been 4 3 1 shown to cause earlier flowering in (Shaw et al, 2019). Eight informative recombinants were grown together with 3A NIL controls and the parents were repeated with Cadenza alleles at the 3A locus resulting in a crop which was later 4 4 2 heading (by one day) and taller (11.7cm).…”

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Resolving a QTL complex for height, heading, and grain yield on chromosome 3A in bread wheat

Martinez

Lister

Freeman

et al. 2020

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Crop height (Ht), heading date (Hd), and grain yield (GY) are interrelated traits in wheat. Independent manipulation of each is important for adaptation and performance. Validated QTL for all three collocate on chromosome 3A in the Avalon x Cadenza population. We asked if these are linked or pleiotropic effects. The region was dissected using recombinants derived from Near Isogenic Lines. It was shown that Ht and Hd are controlled by independent genes. The newly defined Ht QTL interval contained a gene cluster involved in cell wall growth and displaying high levels of differential transcript expression. The Hd locus is much larger and rearranged compared to the reference genome but FT2 is a candidate of particular interest. The Hd effect was shown to act independently of photoperiod and vernalization but did exhibit genotype x environment interaction suggesting a role in ambient temperature sensitivity. It was the Hd locus that was most associated with increased GY of Cadenza alleles, supporting physiological studies proposing that ‘late’ alleles at this locus increase spike fertility and grain number. The work has uncoupled height from heading and yield and shown that one of very few validated GY QTL in wheat is probably mediated by phenological variation.HighlightThere only are three validated wheat yield QTL. Here, one of them was genetically dissected.This showed that the physiological basis of the yield effect is likely to be phenological.

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FLOWERING LOCUS T2 regulates spike development and fertility in temperate cereals

Abstract: FLOWERING LOCUS T2 (FT2) is expressed in the distal part of the developing wheat spike and contributes to the regulation of the number of spikelets per spike.

Cited by 86 publications

References 37 publications

WheatVRN1,FUL2andFUL3play critical and redundant roles in spikelet development and spike determinacy

WheatVRN1,FUL2andFUL3play critical and redundant roles in spikelet development and spike determinacy

FLOWERING LOCUS T4 (HvFT4)delays flowering and decreases floret fertility in barley

Resolving a QTL complex for height, heading, and grain yield on chromosome 3A in bread wheat

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