- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text
- Full Text (PDF)
- Data Supplement
-
All Versions of this Article:
genetics.105.044727v1
172/1/547 most recent - Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via HighWire
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Simons, K. J.
- Articles by Faris, J. D.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Simons, K. J.
- Articles by Faris, J. D.
Originally published as Genetics Published Articles Ahead of Print on September 19, 2005.
Genetics, Vol. 172, 547-555, January 2006, Copyright © 2006
doi:10.1534/genetics.105.044727
Molecular Characterization of the Major Wheat Domestication Gene Q
Kristin J. Simons*,
,
John P. Fellers
,
Harold N. Trick*,
Zengcui Zhang,
,
Yin-Shan Tai,
Bikram S. Gill* and
Justin D. Faris,1
* Department of Plant Pathology, Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USDA–ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit, Northern Crop Science Laboratory, Fargo, North Dakota 58105, USDA–ARS Plant Sciences and Entomology Research Unit, Department of Plant Pathology, Throckmorton Plant Sciences Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506 and Department of Plant Sciences, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota 58105
1 Corresponding author: USDA–ARS Cereal Crops Research Unit, Northern Crop Science Laboratory, 1307 18th St. North, Fargo, ND 58105.
E-mail: farisj{at}fargo.ars.usda.gov
The Q gene is largely responsible for the widespread cultivation of wheat because it confers the free-threshing character. It also pleiotropically influences many other domestication-related traits such as glume shape and tenacity, rachis fragility, spike length, plant height, and spike emergence time. We isolated the Q gene and verified its identity by analysis of knockout mutants and transformation. The Q gene has a high degree of similarity to members of the AP2 family of transcription factors. The Q allele is more abundantly transcribed than q, and the two alleles differ for a single amino acid. An isoleucine at position 329 in the Q protein leads to an abundance of homodimer formation in yeast cells, whereas a valine in the q protein appears to limit homodimer formation. Ectopic expression analysis allowed us to observe both silencing and overexpression effects of Q. Rachis fragility, glume shape, and glume tenacity mimicked the q phenotype in transgenic plants exhibiting post-transcriptional silencing of the transgene and the endogenous Q gene. Variation in spike compactness and plant height were associated with the level of transgene transcription due to the dosage effects of Q. The q allele is the more primitive, and the mutation that gave rise to Q occurred only once leading to the world's cultivated wheats.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  P. Zhang, W. Li, B. Friebe, and B. S. Gill The Origin of a "Zebra" Chromosome in Wheat Suggests Nonhomologous Recombination as a Novel Mechanism for New Chromosome Evolution and Step Changes in Chromosome Number Genetics, July 1, 2008; 179(3): 1169 - 1177. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Q. Zhao, A.-C. Thuillet, N. K. Uhlmann, A. Weber, J. A. Rafalski, S. M. Allen, S. Tingey, and J. Doebley The Role of Regulatory Genes During Maize Domestication: Evidence From Nucleotide Polymorphism and Gene Expression Genetics, April 1, 2008; 178(4): 2133 - 2143. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Taketa, S. Amano, Y. Tsujino, T. Sato, D. Saisho, K. Kakeda, M. Nomura, T. Suzuki, T. Matsumoto, K. Sato, et al. Barley grain with adhering hulls is controlled by an ERF family transcription factor gene regulating a lipid biosynthesis pathway PNAS, March 11, 2008; 105(10): 4062 - 4067. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. M. Hufford, P. Canaran, D. H. Ware, M. D. McMullen, and B. S. Gaut Patterns of Selection and Tissue-Specific Expression among Maize Domestication and Crop Improvement Loci Plant Physiology, July 1, 2007; 144(3): 1642 - 1653. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Dubcovsky and J. Dvorak Genome Plasticity a Key Factor in the Success of Polyploid Wheat Under Domestication Science, June 29, 2007; 316(5833): 1862 - 1866. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Ross-Ibarra, P. L. Morrell, and B. S. Gaut Colloquium Papers: Plant domestication, a unique opportunity to identify the genetic basis of adaptation PNAS, May 15, 2007; 104(suppl_1): 8641 - 8648. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. Komatsuda, M. Pourkheirandish, C. He, P. Azhaguvel, H. Kanamori, D. Perovic, N. Stein, A. Graner, T. Wicker, A. Tagiri, et al. Six-rowed barley originated from a mutation in a homeodomain-leucine zipper I-class homeobox gene PNAS, January 23, 2007; 104(4): 1424 - 1429. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|