Controlling flowering of Medicago sativa (alfalfa) by inducing dominant mutations.

ABSTRACT: Breeding plants with polyploid genomes is challenging because functional redundancy hampers the identification of loss-of-function mutants. Medicago sativa is tetraploid and obligate outcrossing, which together with inbreeding depression complicates traditional breeding approaches in obtaining plants with a stable growth habit. Inducing dominant mutations would provide an alternative strategy to introduce domestication traits in plants with high gene redundancy. Here we describe two complementary strategies to induce dominant mutations in the M. sativa genome and how they can be relevant in the control of flowering time. First, we outline a genome-engineering strategy that harnesses the use of microProteins as developmental regulators. MicroProteins are small proteins that appeared during

SUBMITTER: Chiurazzi MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9303315 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature