Dissecting cis-regulatory control of quantitative trait variation in a plant stem cell circuit.
Nat Plants
; 7(4): 419-427, 2021 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33846596
ABSTRACT
Cis-regulatory mutations underlie important crop domestication and improvement traits1,2. However, limited allelic diversity has hindered functional dissection of the large number of cis-regulatory elements and their potential interactions, thereby precluding a deeper understanding of how cis-regulatory variation impacts traits quantitatively. Here, we engineered over 60 promoter alleles in two tomato fruit size genes3,4 to characterize cis-regulatory sequences and study their functional relationships. We found that targeted mutations in conserved promoter sequences of SlCLV3, a repressor of stem cell proliferation5,6, have a weak impact on fruit locule number. Pairwise combinations of these mutations mildly enhance this phenotype, revealing additive and synergistic relationships between conserved regions and further suggesting even higher-order cis-regulatory interactions within the SlCLV3 promoter. In contrast, SlWUS, a positive regulator of stem cell proliferation repressed by SlCLV3 (refs. 5,6), is more tolerant to promoter perturbations. Our results show that complex interplay among cis-regulatory variants can shape quantitative variation, and suggest that empirical dissections of this hidden complexity can guide promoter engineering to predictably modify crop traits.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Fenótipo
/
Células-Tronco
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Sequências Reguladoras de Ácido Nucleico
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Regiões Promotoras Genéticas
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Solanum lycopersicum
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Locos de Características Quantitativas
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Células Vegetais
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article