Natural allelic variation defines a role for ATMYC1: trichome cell fate determination.

ABSTRACT: The molecular nature of biological variation is not well understood. Indeed, many questions persist regarding the types of molecular changes and the classes of genes that underlie morphological variation within and among species. Here we have taken a candidate gene approach based on previous mapping results to identify the gene and ultimately a polymorphism that underlies a trichome density QTL in Arabidopsis thaliana. Our results show that natural allelic variation in the transcription factor ATMYC1 alters trichome density in A. thaliana; this is the first reported function for ATMYC1. Using site-directed mutagenesis and yeast two-hybrid experiments, we demonstrate that a single amino acid replacement in ATMYC1, discovered in four ecotypes, eliminates known protein-protein interactions in

SUBMITTER: Symonds VV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3111535 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature