Wheat can adapt to most agricultural conditions across temperate regions. This success is the result of phenotypic plasticity conferred by a large and complex genome composed of three homoeologous genomes (A, B, and D). Although drought is a major cause of yield and quality loss in wheat, the adaptive mechanisms and gene networks underlying drought responses in the field remain largely unknown. Here, we addressed this by utilizing an interdisciplinary approach involving field water status phenotyping, sampling, and gene expression analyses. Overall, changes at the transcriptional level were reflected in plant spectral traits amenable to field-level physiological measurements, although changes in photosynthesis-related pathways were found likely to be under more complex post-transcriptional control. Examining homoeologous genes with a 1:1:1 relationship across the A, B, and D genomes (triads), we revealed a complex genomic architecture for drought responses under field conditions, involving gene homoeolog specialization, multiple gene clusters, gene families, miRNAs, and transcription factors coordinating these responses. Our results provide a new focus for genomics-assisted breeding of drought-tolerant wheat cultivars.
Wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides) is the progenitor of wheat. We performed chromosome-based survey sequencing of the 14 chromosomes, examining repetitive sequences, protein-coding genes, miRNA/target pairs and tRNA genes, as well as syntenic relationships with related grasses. We found considerable differences in the content and distribution of repetitive sequences between the A and B subgenomes. The gene contents of individual chromosomes varied widely, not necessarily correlating with chromosome size. We catalogued candidate agronomically important loci, along with new alleles and flanking sequences that can be used to design exome sequencing. Syntenic relationships and virtual gene orders revealed several small-scale evolutionary rearrangements, in addition to providing evidence for the 4AL-5AL-7BS translocation in wild emmer wheat. Chromosome-based sequence assemblies contained five novel miRNA families, among 59 families putatively encoded in the entire genome which provide insight into the domestication of wheat and an overview of the genome content and organization.
- MeSH
- chromozomy rostlin genetika MeSH
- genetické lokusy genetika MeSH
- genom rostlinný genetika MeSH
- konzervovaná sekvence genetika MeSH
- lipnicovité genetika MeSH
- mikro RNA genetika MeSH
- nekódující RNA genetika MeSH
- polyploidie MeSH
- průtoková cytometrie MeSH
- pšenice genetika MeSH
- repetitivní sekvence nukleových kyselin genetika MeSH
- rostlinné geny genetika MeSH
- tetraploidie MeSH
- vysoce účinné nukleotidové sekvenování MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
