Identification of the VERNALIZATION 4 gene reveals the origin of spring growth habit in ancient wheats from South Asia.

ABSTRACT: Wheat varieties with a winter growth habit require long exposures to low temperatures (vernalization) to accelerate flowering. Natural variation in four vernalization genes regulating this requirement has favored wheat adaptation to different environments. The first three genes (VRN1-VRN3) have been cloned and characterized before. Here we show that the fourth gene, VRN-D4, originated by the insertion of a ∼290-kb region from chromosome arm 5AL into the proximal region of chromosome arm 5DS. The inserted 5AL region includes a copy of VRN-A1 that carries distinctive mutations in its coding and regulatory regions. Three lines of evidence confirmed that this gene is VRN-D4: it cosegregated with VRN-D4 in a high-density mapping population; it was expressed earlier than other VRN1 genes in the

SUBMITTER: Kippes N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4593092 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature