"Missing" G x E Variation Controls Flowering Time in Arabidopsis thaliana.
"Missing" G x E Variation Controls Flowering Time in Arabidopsis thaliana.
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DOI:
10.1371/journal.pgen.1005597
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发表时间:
2015-10
期刊:
影响因子:
4.5
通讯作者:
Nordborg M
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
Sasaki E;Zhang P;Atwell S;Meng D;Nordborg M
Understanding how genetic variation interacts with the environment is essential for understanding adaptation. In particular, the life cycle of plants is tightly coordinated with local environmental signals through complex interactions with the genetic variation (G x E). The mechanistic basis for G x E is almost completely unknown. We collected flowering time data for 173 natural inbred lines of Arabidopsis thaliana from Sweden under two growth temperatures (10°C and 16°C), and observed massive G x E variation. To identify the genetic polymorphisms underlying this variation, we conducted genome-wide scans using both SNPs and local variance components. The SNP-based scan identified several variants that had common effects in both environments, but found no trace of G x E effects, whereas the scan using local variance components found both. Furthermore, the G x E effects appears to be concentrated in a small fraction of the genome (0.5%). Our conclusion is that G x E effects in this study are mostly due to large numbers of allele or haplotypes at a small number of loci, many of which correspond to previously identified flowering time genes. Many traits are influenced by genetic variation in interaction with the environment, so called G x E variation. In agriculture, for example, different varieties are optimal in different environments. In evolution, G x E is also crucial for local adaptation. Identifying the genes underlying G x E has proven extremely challenging, however. Using a collection of inbred lines of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, we meausured flowering time under two temperature regimes, and scanned the genome for polymorphisms responsible for variation in this trait. Although most of the variation is due to G x E, genome-wide scans using SNPs only revealed direct genetic effects (G), and failed to reveal any significant G x E associations. In contrast, scanning the genome using local windows of polymorphism suggested that almost all the observed variation can be explained by 2% of the genome. Previously identified flowering time genes are strongly overrepresented in these regions, and our results are compatible with a model under which G x E is mainly due to many alleles at a relatively small number of loci.