scholarly journals Barley yield formation under abiotic stress depends on the interplay between flowering time genes and environmental cues

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Wiegmann ◽  
Andreas Maurer ◽  
Anh Pham ◽  
Timothy J. March ◽  
Ayed Al-Abdallat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Plant Development ◽  
Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Wild Barley ◽  
Nitrogen Deficiency ◽  
Pleiotropic Effects ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Yield Formation

AbstractSince the dawn of agriculture, crop yield has always been impaired through abiotic stresses. In a field trial across five locations worldwide, we tested three abiotic stresses, nitrogen deficiency, drought and salinity, using HEB-YIELD, a selected subset of the wild barley nested association mapping population HEB-25. We show that barley flowering time genes Ppd-H1, Sdw1, Vrn-H1 and Vrn-H3 exert pleiotropic effects on plant development and grain yield. Under field conditions, these effects are strongly influenced by environmental cues like day length and temperature. For example, in Al-Karak, Jordan, the day length-sensitive wild barley allele of Ppd-H1 was associated with an increase of grain yield by up to 30% compared to the insensitive elite barley allele. The observed yield increase is accompanied by pleiotropic effects of Ppd-H1 resulting in shorter life cycle, extended grain filling period and increased grain size. Our study indicates that the adequate timing of plant development is crucial to maximize yield formation under harsh environmental conditions. We provide evidence that wild barley germplasm, introgressed into elite barley cultivars, can be utilized to improve grain yield. The presented knowledge may be transferred to related crop species like wheat and rice securing the rising global food demand for cereals.

scholarly journals Cuscuta australis (dodder) parasite eavesdrops on the host plants’ FT signals to flower

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (37) ◽  
pp. 23125-23130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guojing Shen ◽  
Nian Liu ◽  
Jingxiong Zhang ◽  
Yuxing Xu ◽  
Ian T. Baldwin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flowering Time ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Host Plants ◽  
Biochemical Analysis ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Flowering Locus T ◽  
Parasite Fitness ◽  
Time Reproduction ◽  
Flowering Regulation

Many plants use environmental cues, including seasonal changes of day length (photoperiod), to control their flowering time. Under inductive conditions, FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein is synthesized in leaves, and FT protein is a mobile signal, which is able to travel to the shoot apex to induce flowering. Dodders (Cuscuta, Convolvulaceae) are root- and leafless plants that parasitize a large number of autotrophic plant species with varying flowering time. Remarkably, some dodder species, e.g., Cuscuta australis, are able to synchronize their flowering with the flowering of their hosts. Detailed sequence inspection and expression analysis indicated that the FT gene in dodder C. australis very likely does not function in activating flowering. Using soybean host plants cultivated under inductive and noninductive photoperiod conditions and soybean and tobacco host plants, in which FT was overexpressed and knocked out, respectively, we show that FT-induced flowering of the host is likely required for both host and parasite flowering. Biochemical analysis revealed that host-synthesized FT signals are able to move into dodder stems, where they physically interact with a dodder FD transcription factor to activate dodder flowering. This study demonstrates that FTs can function as an important interplant flowering signal in host–dodder interactions. The unique means of flowering regulation of dodder illustrates how regressive evolution, commonly found in parasites, may facilitate the physiological synchronization of parasite and host, here allowing the C. australis parasite to time reproduction exactly with that of their hosts, likely optimizing parasite fitness.

Interrelations among Early Vigor, Flowering Time, Physiological Maturity, and Grain Yield in Tropical Maize (Zea mays L.) under Multiple Abiotic Stresses

Crop Science ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 229-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Trachsel ◽  
Juan Burgueno ◽  
Edgar A. Suarez ◽  
Felix M. San Vicente ◽  
Ciro S. Rodriguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Zea Mays ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Abiotic Stresses ◽  
Zea Mays L ◽  
Tropical Maize ◽  
Physiological Maturity ◽  
Early Vigor

scholarly journals Genetic variation at flowering time loci in wild and cultivated barley

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 264-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Cockram ◽  
Huw Hones ◽  
Donal M. O'Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Wild Barley ◽  
Agronomic Traits ◽  
Allelic Variation ◽  
Allelic Diversity ◽  
Early Flowering ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Wild Germplasm ◽  
Cultivated Barley

The worldwide spread of barley cultivation required adaptation to agricultural environments far distant from those found in its centre of domestication. An important component of this adaptation is the timing of flowering, achieved predominantly in response to day length and temperature. Here, we use a collection of cultivars, landraces and wild barley accessions to investigate the origins and distribution of allelic diversity at four major flowering time loci, mutations at which have been under selection during the spread of barley cultivation into Europe. Our findings suggest that while mutant alleles at the PPD-H1 and PPD-H2 photoperiod loci occurred pre-domestication, the mutant vernalization non-responsive alleles utilized in landraces and cultivars at the VRN-H1 and VRN-H2 loci occurred post-domestication. The transition from wild to cultivated barley is associated with a doubling in the number of observed multi-locus flowering-time haplotypes, suggesting that the resulting phenotypic variation has aided adaptation to cultivation in the diverse ecogeographic locations encountered. Despite the importance of early-flowering alleles during the domestication of barley in Europe, we show that novel VRN alleles associated with early flowering in wild barley have been lost in domesticates, highlighting the potential of wild germplasm as a source of novel allelic variation for agronomic traits.

scholarly journals Barley yield formation under abiotic stress depends on the interplay between flowering time genes and environmental cues

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Wiegmann ◽  
Andreas Maurer ◽  
Anh Pham ◽  
Timothy J. March ◽  
Ayed Al-Abdallat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Abiotic Stress ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Environmental Cues ◽  
Yield Formation

Grain yield formation and nitrogen uptake of amaranth

1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Aufhammer ◽  
H.-P. Kaul ◽  
P. Herz ◽  
E. Nalborczyk ◽  
A. Dalbiak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Nitrogen Uptake ◽  
Yield Formation

scholarly journals Genomic Regions Associated with the Control of Flowering Time in Durum Wheat

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Gupta ◽  
Hafssa Kabbaj ◽  
Khaoula El Hassouni ◽  
Marco Maccaferri ◽  
Miguel Sabchez-Garcia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Durum Wheat ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Genome Wide Association Study ◽  
Strong Association ◽  
Triticum Aestivum L ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Significant Qtls ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Days To Heading ◽  
Genomic Regions

Flowering time is a critical stage for crop development as it regulates the ability of plants to adapt to an environment. To understand the genetic control of flowering time, a genome wide association study (GWAS) was conducted to identify the genomic regions associated with the control of this trait in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). A total of 96 landraces and 288 modern lines were evaluated for days to heading, growing degree days, and accumulated day length at flowering across 13 environments spread across Morocco, Lebanon, Mauritania, and Senegal. These environments were grouped into four pheno-environments based on temperatures, day length and other climatic variables. Genotyping with 35K Axiom array generated 7,652 polymorphic SNPs in addition to 3 KASP markers associated to known flowering genes. In total, 34 significant QTLs were identified in both landraces and modern lines. Some QTLs had strong association with already known regulatory photoperiod genes, Ppd-A and Ppd-B and vernalization genes Vrn-A1, and Vrn3. However, these loci explained only 5 to 20% of variance for days to heading. Seven QTLs overlapped between the two germplasm groups in which Q.ICD.Eps-03 and Q.ICD.Vrn-17 consistently affected flowering time in all the pheno-environments, while Q.ICD.Eps-11 and Q.ICD.Ppd-12 were significant only in two pheno-environments and the combined analysis across all environments. These results help clarify the genetic mechanism controlling flowering time in durum wheat and show some clear distinctions to what is known for common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

scholarly journals Managing flowering time in Miscanthus and sugarcane to facilitate intra- and intergeneric crosses

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0240390
Author(s):  
Hongxu Dong ◽  
Lindsay V. Clark ◽  
Xiaoli Jin ◽  
Kossonou Anzoua ◽  
Larisa Bagmet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Flowering Time ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Floral Induction ◽  
Day Treatment ◽  
Day Length ◽  
Close Relative ◽  
Short Day ◽  
Culm Length ◽  
Low Latitudes ◽  
Short Days

Miscanthus is a close relative of Saccharum and a potentially valuable genetic resource for improving sugarcane. Differences in flowering time within and between Miscanthus and Saccharum hinders intra- and interspecific hybridizations. A series of greenhouse experiments were conducted over three years to determine how to synchronize flowering time of Saccharum and Miscanthus genotypes. We found that day length was an important factor influencing when Miscanthus and Saccharum flowered. Sugarcane could be induced to flower in a central Illinois greenhouse using supplemental lighting to reduce the rate at which days shortened during the autumn and winter to 1 min d-1, which allowed us to synchronize the flowering of some sugarcane genotypes with Miscanthus genotypes primarily from low latitudes. In a complementary growth chamber experiment, we evaluated 33 Miscanthus genotypes, including 28 M. sinensis, 2 M. floridulus, and 3 M. ×giganteus collected from 20.9° S to 44.9° N for response to three day lengths (10 h, 12.5 h, and 15 h). High latitude-adapted M. sinensis flowered mainly under 15 h days, but unexpectedly, short days resulted in short, stocky plants that did not flower; in some cases, flag leaves developed under short days but heading did not occur. In contrast, for M. sinensis and M. floridulus from low latitudes, shorter day lengths typically resulted in earlier flowering, and for some low latitude genotypes, 15 h days resulted in no flowering. However, the highest ratio of reproductive shoots to total number of culms was typically observed for 12.5 h or 15 h days. Latitude of origin was significantly associated with culm length, and the shorter the days, the stronger the relationship. Nearly all entries achieved maximal culm length under the 15 h treatment, but the nearer to the equator an accession originated, the less of a difference in culm length between the short-day treatments and the 15 h day treatment. Under short days, short culms for high-latitude accessions was achieved by different physiological mechanisms for M. sinensis genetic groups from the mainland in comparison to those from Japan; for mainland accessions, the mechanism was reduced internode length, whereas for Japanese accessions the phyllochron under short days was greater than under long days. Thus, for M. sinensis, short days typically hastened floral induction, consistent with the expectations for a facultative short-day plant. However, for high latitude accessions of M. sinensis, days less than 12.5 h also signaled that plants should prepare for winter by producing many short culms with limited elongation and development; moreover, this response was also epistatic to flowering. Thus, to flower M. sinensis that originates from high latitudes synchronously with sugarcane, the former needs day lengths >12.5 h (perhaps as high as 15 h), whereas that the latter needs day lengths <12.5 h.

scholarly journals The Impacts of Flowering Time and Tillering on Grain Yield of Sorghum Hybrids across Diverse Environments

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuemin Wang ◽  
Colleen Hunt ◽  
Alan Cruickshank ◽  
Emma Mace ◽  
Graeme Hammer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grain Yield ◽  
Flowering Time ◽  
Genetic Background ◽  
Linear Models ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Environment Interaction ◽  
Canopy Development ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Sorghum Production ◽  
Relationship Of

Sorghum in Australia is grown in water-limited environments of varying extent, generating substantial genotype &times; environment interaction (GEI). Much of the yield variation and GEI results from variations in flowering time and tillering through their effects on canopy development. The confounding effects of flowering and tillering complicate the interpretation of breeding trials. In this study, we evaluated the impacts of both flowering time (DTF) and tillering capacity (FTN) on yield of 1741 unique test hybrids derived from three common female testers in 21 yield testing trials (48 tester/trial combinations) across the major sorghum production regions in Australia in three seasons. Contributions of DTF and FTN to genetic variation in grain yield were significant in 14 and 12 tester/trial combinations, respectively. The proportion of genetic variance in grain yield explained by DTF and FTN ranged from 0.2% to 61.0% and from 1.4% to 56.9%, respectively, depending on trials and genetic background of female testers. The relationship of DTF or FTN with grain yield of hybrids was frequently positive, but varied across the genetic background of testers. Accounting for the effects of DTF and FTN using linear models did not substantially increase the between trial genetic correlations for grain yield. The results suggested that other factors affecting canopy development dynamics and grain yield might contribute GEI and/or the linear approach to account for DTF and FTN on grain yield did not capture the complex non-linear interactions.

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