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 inb...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 genome evolution from genes encoding larger proteins.Genomeengineering allows us to retrace evolution and create microProtein-coding genes de novo.Second,we provide an inventory of genes regulated by microRNAs that control plant development.Making respective gene transcripts microRNA-resistant by inducing point mutations can uncouple microRNA regulation.Finally,we investigated the recently published genomes of M.sativa and provide an inventory of breeding targets,some of which,when mutated,are likely to result in dominant traits.展开更多
基金funding through Novo Crops(Novo Nordisk Foundationproject number 2019OC53580+10 种基金S.W.and M.P.)the Independent Research Fund Denmark(0136-00015B and 0135-00014BS.W.)the Novo Nordisk Foundation(NNF18OC0034226 and NNF20OC0061440S.W.)the Innovation Fund Denmark(LESSISMOREM.P.)the Carlsberg Foundation(Raising Quinoaproject number CF181113M.P.)funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk?odowska Curie grant agreement No.801199(M.J.C.)。
文摘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 genome evolution from genes encoding larger proteins.Genomeengineering allows us to retrace evolution and create microProtein-coding genes de novo.Second,we provide an inventory of genes regulated by microRNAs that control plant development.Making respective gene transcripts microRNA-resistant by inducing point mutations can uncouple microRNA regulation.Finally,we investigated the recently published genomes of M.sativa and provide an inventory of breeding targets,some of which,when mutated,are likely to result in dominant traits.
