Association between seed dormancy and pericarp color is controlled by a pleiotropic gene that regulates abscisic acid and flavonoid synthesis in weedy red rice.

ABSTRACT: Seed dormancy has been associated with red grain color in cereal crops for a century. The association was linked to qSD7-1/qPC7, a cluster of quantitative trait loci for seed dormancy/pericarp color in weedy red rice. This research delimited qSD7-1/qPC7 to the Os07g11020 or Rc locus encoding a basic helix-loop-helix family transcription factor by intragenic recombinants and provided unambiguous evidence that the association arises from pleiotropy. The pleiotropic gene expressed in early developing seeds promoted expression of key genes for biosynthesis of abscisic acid (ABA), resulting in an increase in accumulation of the dormancy-inducing hormone; activated a conserved network of eight genes for flavonoid biosynthesis to produce the pigments in the lower epidermal cells of the pericarp t

SUBMITTER: Gu XY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3241415 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature