Waxy phenotype evolution in the allotetraploid cereal broomcorn millet: mutations at the GBSSI locus in their functional and phylogenetic context.

ABSTRACT: Waxy mutants, in which endosperm starch contains ~100% amylopectin rather than the wild-type composition of ~70% amylopectin and ~30% amylose, occur in many domesticated cereals. The cultivation of waxy varieties is concentrated in east Asia, where there is a culinary preference for glutinous-textured foods that may have developed from ancient food processing traditions. The waxy phenotype results from mutations in the GBSSI gene, which catalyzes amylose synthesis. Broomcorn or proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is one of the world's oldest cultivated cereals, which spread across Eurasia early in prehistory. Recent phylogeographic analysis has shown strong genetic structuring that likely reflects ancient expansion patterns. Broomcorn millet is highly unusual in being an allotetraploid cer

SUBMITTER: Hunt HV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3533377 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature