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Ancient relaxation of an obligate short-day requirement in common bean through loss of CONSTANS-like gene function

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posted on 2023-05-21, 03:21 authored by Gonzalez, AM, Jacqueline Vander SchoorJacqueline Vander Schoor, Fang, C, Kong, F, Wu, J, James WellerJames Weller, Santalla, M

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is a major global food staple and source of dietary protein that was domesticated independently in Mexico and Andean South America. Its subsequent development as a crop of importance worldwide has been enabled by genetic relaxation of the strict short-day requirement typical of wild forms, but the genetic basis for this change is not well understood. Recently, a loss of photoperiod sensitivity was shown to result from mutations in the phytochrome photoreceptor gene Ppd/PHYA3 that arose independently within the two major domesticated lineages. Here, we define a second major photoperiod sensitivity locus, at which recessive alleles associate with deleterious mutations affecting the CONSTANS-like gene COL2. A wider survey of sequence variation in over 800 diverse lines, including wild, landrace, and domesticated accessions, show that distinct col2 haplotypes are associated with early flowering in Andean and Mesoamerican germplasm. The relative frequencies and distributions of COL2 and PHYA3 haplotypes imply that photoperiod adaptation developed in two phases within each gene pool: an initial reduction in sensitivity through impairment of COL2 function and subsequent complete loss through PHYA3. Gene expression analyses indicate that COL2 functions downstream of PHYA3 to repress expression of FT genes and may function in parallel with PvE1, the bean ortholog of a key legume-specific flowering repressor. Collectively, these results define the molecular basis for a key phenological adaptation, reveal a striking convergence in the naturally replicated evolution of this major crop, and further emphasize the wider evolutionary lability of CONSTANS effects on flowering time control.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

Current Biology

Volume

31

Issue

8

Pagination

1643-1652

ISSN

1879-0445

Department/School

School of Natural Sciences

Publisher

Cell Press

Place of publication

United Kingdom

Rights statement

Copyright 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Grain legumes; Expanding knowledge in the biological sciences

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