CeBiTec Colloquium

 date 

Monday, May 7th 2012, 17 c.t.

 location 

G2-104, CeBiTec Building

 speaker 

Dr. Andreas Müller

Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Lehrstuhl Pflanzenzüchtung

title 

Life cycle control in flowering plants: A view from the distance (Beta vulgaris)


abstract Beta vulgaris is a dicotyledonous crop species in the Caryophyllales clade of eudicots whose lineage diverged from other core eudicot clades shortly after the monocot-dicot split 140 MYA. Natural accessions such as sea beets (B. vulgaris L. ssp. maritima) comprise annual forms which bolt and flower within a single growing season without a requirement for vernalization as well as longer-lived forms which require vernalization. Annuality is controlled by the bolting locus B. Because bolting drastically reduces root yield, domestication of beet involved selection against the annual habit. We isolated B by map-based cloning and identified BvBTC1 (BOLTING TIME CONTROL 1) as a strong candidate gene. Functional analysis of BvBTC1 demonstrated its pivotal role in life cycle control in beet as well as an unexpected role in vernalization response, and suggested that domestication of beet involved selection of a rare BvBTC1 allele. A genetic survey of EMS-derived genotypes identified two additional loci B2 and B4 which co-regulate bolting. In a complementary approach, further components of the floral transition gene network in beet are being identified by genome-wide transcript profiling. An integrated model for life cycle and bolting control in beet will be presented and compared to the well-established models for Arabidopsis thaliana and cereals.
 host 

Dr. Daniela Holtgräwe