Document Detail


A hyperactive quantitative trait locus allele of Arabidopsis BRX contributes to natural variation in root growth vigor.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  20404146     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Quantitative trait loci analysis of natural Arabidopsis thaliana accessions is increasingly exploited for gene isolation. However, to date this has mostly revealed deleterious mutations. Among them, a loss-of-function allele identified the root growth regulator BREVIS RADIX (BRX). Here we present evidence that BRX and the paralogous BRX-LIKE (BRXL) genes are under selective constraint in monocotyledons as well as dicotyledons. Unexpectedly, however, whereas none of the Arabidopsis orthologs except AtBRXL1 could complement brx null mutants when expressed constitutively, nearly all monocotyledon BRXLs tested could. Thus, BRXL proteins seem to be more diversified in dicotyledons than in monocotyledons. This functional diversification was correlated with accelerated rates of sequence divergence in the N-terminal regions. Population genetic analyses of 30 haplotypes are suggestive of an adaptive role of AtBRX and AtBRXL1. In two accessions, Lc-0 and Lov-5, seven amino acids are deleted in the variable region between the highly conserved C-terminal, so-called BRX domains. Genotyping of 42 additional accessions also found this deletion in Kz-1, Pu2-7, and Ws-0. In segregating recombinant inbred lines, the Lc-0 allele (AtBRX(Lc-0)) conferred significantly enhanced root growth. Moreover, when constitutively expressed in the same regulatory context, AtBRX(Lc-0) complemented brx mutants more efficiently than an allele without deletion. The same was observed for AtBRXL1, which compared with AtBRX carries a 13 amino acid deletion that encompasses the deletion found in AtBRX(Lc-0). Thus, the AtBRX(Lc-0) allele seems to contribute to natural variation in root growth vigor and provides a rare example of an experimentally confirmed, hyperactive allelic variant.
Authors:
Julien Beuchat; Shuwei Li; Laura Ragni; Chikako Shindo; Michael H Kohn; Christian S Hardtke
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't     Date:  2010-04-19
Journal Detail:
Title:  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America     Volume:  107     ISSN:  1091-6490     ISO Abbreviation:  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.     Publication Date:  2010 May 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2010-05-05     Completed Date:  2010-06-08     Revised Date:  2010-11-05    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7505876     Medline TA:  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  8475-80     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Molecular Biology, University of Lausanne, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Alleles
Alternative Splicing*
Amino Acid Sequence
Arabidopsis / chemistry,  genetics*,  growth & development,  metabolism
Arabidopsis Proteins / chemistry,  genetics*,  metabolism
Evolution, Molecular
Gene Deletion
Haplotypes
Molecular Sequence Data
Phylogeny
Plant Roots / genetics*,  growth & development,  metabolism
Quantitative Trait Loci*
Sequence Alignment
Chemical
Reg. No./Substance:
0/Arabidopsis Proteins; 0/BREVIS RADIX protein, Arabidopsis

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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