Tao Yongfu, Mace Emma S, Tai Shuaishuai, Cruickshank Alan, Campbell Bradley C, Zhao Xianrong, Van Oosterom Erik J, Godwin Ian D, Botella Jose R, Jordan David R
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of QueenslandWarwick, QLD, Australia.
Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hermitage Research FacilityWarwick, QLD, Australia.
Front Plant Sci. 2017 Jul 18;8:1237. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.01237. eCollection 2017.
Seed size and seed weight are major quality attributes and important determinants of yield that have been strongly selected for during crop domestication. Limited information is available about the genetic control and genes associated with seed size and weight in sorghum. This study identified sorghum orthologs of genes with proven effects on seed size and weight in other plant species and searched for evidence of selection during domestication by utilizing resequencing data from a diversity panel. In total, 114 seed size candidate genes were identified in sorghum, 63 of which exhibited signals of purifying selection during domestication. A significant number of these genes also had domestication signatures in maize and rice, consistent with the parallel domestication of seed size in cereals. Seed size candidate genes that exhibited differentially high expression levels in seed were also found more likely to be under selection during domestication, supporting the hypothesis that modification to seed size during domestication preferentially targeted genes for intrinsic seed size rather than genes associated with physiological factors involved in the carbohydrate supply and transport. Our results provide improved understanding of the complex genetic control of seed size and weight and the impact of domestication on these genes.
种子大小和种子重量是主要的品质属性，也是产量的重要决定因素，在作物驯化过程中受到了强烈选择。关于高粱种子大小和重量的遗传控制及相关基因的信息有限。本研究鉴定了高粱中与其他植物物种中已证实对种子大小和重量有影响的基因的直系同源基因，并利用来自一个多样性群体的重测序数据寻找驯化过程中选择的证据。总共在高粱中鉴定出114个种子大小候选基因，其中63个在驯化过程中表现出纯化选择信号。这些基因中有相当数量在玉米和水稻中也有驯化特征，这与谷类作物种子大小的平行驯化一致。在种子中表现出差异高表达水平的种子大小候选基因在驯化过程中也更有可能受到选择，这支持了一个假设，即驯化过程中对种子大小的改变优先针对种子固有大小的基因，而不是与碳水化合物供应和运输所涉及的生理因素相关的基因。我们的结果有助于更好地理解种子大小和重量的复杂遗传控制以及驯化对这些基因的影响。
