Mutation at the circadian clock gene EARLY MATURITY 8 adapts domesticated barley (Hordeum vulgare) to short growing seasons.

ABSTRACT: The circadian clock is an autonomous oscillator that produces endogenous biological rhythms with a period of about 24 h. This clock allows organisms to coordinate their metabolism and development with predicted daily and seasonal changes of the environment. In plants, circadian rhythms contribute to both evolutionary fitness and agricultural productivity. Nevertheless, we show that commercial barley varieties bred for short growing seasons by use of early maturity 8 (eam8) mutations, also termed mat-a, are severely compromised in clock gene expression and clock outputs. We identified EAM8 as a barley ortholog of the Arabidopsis thaliana circadian clock regulator EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3) and demonstrate that eam8 accelerates the transition from vegetative to reproductive growth and infloresc

SUBMITTER: Faure S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3361427 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature