Yang Xiaohui, Wei Zunzheng, Du Qingzhang, Chen Jinhui, Wang Qingshi, Quan Mingyang, Song Yuepeng, Xie Jianbo, Zhang Deqiang
National Engineering Laboratory for Tree Breeding, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, No. 35, Qinghua East Road, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Key Laboratory of Genetics and Breeding in Forest Trees and Ornamental Plants, Ministry of Education, College of Biological Sciences and Technology, Beijing Forestry University, No. 35, Qinghua East Road, Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Sci Rep. 2015 Nov 9;5:16507. doi: 10.1038/srep16507.
Transcription factors (TFs) regulate gene expression and can strongly affect phenotypes. However, few studies have examined TF variants and TF interactions with their targets in plants. Here, we used genetic association in 435 unrelated individuals of Populus tomentosa to explore the variants in Pto-Wuschela and its targets to decipher the genetic regulatory network of Pto-Wuschela. Our bioinformatics and co-expression analysis identified 53 genes with the motif TCACGTGA as putative targets of Pto-Wuschela. Single-marker association analysis showed that Pto-Wuschela was associated with wood properties, which is in agreement with the observation that it has higher expression in stem vascular tissues in Populus. Also, SNPs in the 53 targets were associated with growth or wood properties under additive or dominance effects, suggesting these genes and Pto-Wuschela may act in the same genetic pathways that affect variation in these quantitative traits. Epistasis analysis indicated that 75.5% of these genes directly or indirectly interacted Pto-Wuschela, revealing the coordinated genetic regulatory network formed by Pto-Wuschela and its targets. Thus, our study provides an alternative method for dissection of the interactions between a TF and its targets, which will strength our understanding of the regulatory roles of TFs in complex traits in plants.
转录因子（TFs）调控基因表达，并能强烈影响表型。然而，很少有研究在植物中检测TF变异及其与靶标的相互作用。在此，我们利用435个毛白杨无关个体的遗传关联分析，探索毛白杨Wuschela基因（Pto-Wuschela）及其靶标的变异，以解析Pto-Wuschela的遗传调控网络。我们的生物信息学和共表达分析鉴定出53个具有基序TCACGTGA的基因作为Pto-Wuschela的假定靶标。单标记关联分析表明，Pto-Wuschela与木材性质相关，这与它在杨树茎维管组织中具有较高表达的观察结果一致。此外，53个靶标的单核苷酸多态性（SNPs）在加性或显性效应下与生长或木材性质相关，表明这些基因和Pto-Wuschela可能在影响这些数量性状变异的相同遗传途径中起作用。上位性分析表明，这些基因中有75.5%直接或间接与Pto-Wuschela相互作用，揭示了由Pto-Wuschela及其靶标形成的协同遗传调控网络。因此，我们的研究提供了一种剖析TF与其靶标之间相互作用的替代方法，这将增强我们对TF在植物复杂性状中调控作用的理解。
