Splicing variation at a FLOWERING LOCUS C homeolog is associated with flowering time variation in the tetraploid Capsella bursa-pastoris.

ABSTRACT: The long-term fates of duplicate genes are well studied both empirically and theoretically, but how the short-term evolution of duplicate genes contributes to phenotypic variation is less well known. Here, we have studied the genetic basis of flowering time variation in the disomic tetraploid Capsella bursa-pastoris. We sequenced four duplicate candidate genes for flowering time and 10 background loci in samples from western Eurasia and China. Using a mixed-model approach that accounts for population structure, we found that polymorphisms at one homeolog of two candidate genes, FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) and CRYPTOCHROME1 (CRY1), were associated with natural flowering time variation. No potentially causative polymorphisms were found in the coding region of CRY1; however, at FLC two splice sit

SUBMITTER: Slotte T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2746158 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature