Nonadditive regulation of FRI and FLC loci mediates flowering-time variation in Arabidopsis allopolyploids.

ABSTRACT: Allopolyploidy is formed by combining two or more divergent genomes and occurs throughout the evolutionary history of many plants and some animals. Transcriptome analysis indicates that many genes in various biological pathways, including flowering time, are expressed nonadditively (different from the midparent value). However, the mechanisms for nonadditive gene regulation in a biological pathway are unknown. Natural variation of flowering time is largely controlled by two epistatically acting loci, namely FRIGIDA (FRI) and FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC). FRI upregulates FLC expression that represses flowering in Arabidopsis. Synthetic Arabidopsis allotetraploids contain two sets of FLC and FRI genes originating from Arabidopsis thaliana and A. arenosa, respectively, and flower late. Inhibition

SUBMITTER: Wang J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1526503 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature