Studer Anthony J, Wang Huai, Doebley John F
Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin 53076.
Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin 53076
Genetics. 2017 Oct;207(2):755-765. doi: 10.1534/genetics.117.300071. Epub 2017 Jul 28.
Selection during evolution, whether natural or artificial, acts through the phenotype. For multifaceted phenotypes such as plant and inflorescence architecture, the underlying genetic architecture is comprised of a complex network of interacting genes rather than single genes that act independently to determine the trait. As such, selection acts on entire gene networks. Here, we begin to define the genetic regulatory network to which the maize domestication gene, (), belongs. Using a combination of molecular methods to uncover either direct or indirect regulatory interactions, we identified a set of genes that lie downstream of in a gene network regulating both plant and inflorescence architecture. Additional genes, known from the literature, also act in this network. We observed that regulates both core cell cycle genes and another maize domestication gene, (). We show that several members of the MADS-box gene family are either directly or indirectly regulated by and/or , and that sits atop a cascade of transcriptional regulators controlling both plant and inflorescence architecture. Multiple members of the network appear to have been the targets of selection during maize domestication. Knowledge of the regulatory hierarchies controlling traits is central to understanding how new morphologies evolve.
进化过程中的选择，无论是自然选择还是人工选择，都是通过表型起作用的。对于诸如植物和花序结构等多方面的表型而言，其潜在的遗传结构是由相互作用的基因构成的复杂网络，而非独立起作用以决定性状的单个基因。因此，选择作用于整个基因网络。在此，我们开始界定玉米驯化基因（此处括号内容缺失具体基因名）所属的遗传调控网络。通过运用多种分子方法来揭示直接或间接的调控相互作用，我们在一个调控植物和花序结构的基因网络中鉴定出了一组位于该基因下游的基因。文献中已知的其他基因也在这个网络中发挥作用。我们观察到该基因调控核心细胞周期基因以及另一个玉米驯化基因（此处括号内容缺失具体基因名）。我们表明，MADS盒基因家族的几个成员直接或间接受该基因和/或另一基因的调控，并且该基因位于控制植物和花序结构的转录调节因子级联的顶端。该基因网络的多个成员似乎在玉米驯化过程中成为了选择的目标。了解控制性状的调控层次对于理解新形态如何进化至关重要。
