Hotspots in the genomic architecture of field drought responses in wheat as breeding targets

0502406 - ÚEB 2019 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Gálvez, S. - Mérida-García, R. - Camino, C. - Borrill, P. - Abrouk, Michael - Ramírez-González, R. H. - Biyiklioglu, S. - Amil-Ruiz, F. - Dorado, G. - Budak, H. - Gonzalez-Dugo, V. - Zarco-Tejada, P. J. - Appels, R. - Uauy, C. - Hernandez, P.
Hotspots in the genomic architecture of field drought responses in wheat as breeding targets.
Functional & Integrative Genomics. Roč. 19, č. 2 (2019), s. 295-309. ISSN 1438-793X. E-ISSN 1438-7948
Institutional support: RVO:61389030
Keywords : Field drought tolerance * Plant spectral traits * Transcriptomics
OECD category: Genetics and heredity (medical genetics to be 3)
Impact factor: 3.058, year: 2019

Wheat can adapt to most agricultural conditions across temperate regions. This success is the result of phenotypic plasticity conferred by a large and complex genome composed of three homoeologous genomes (A, B, and D). Although drought is a major cause of yield and quality loss in wheat, the adaptive mechanisms and gene networks underlying drought responses in the field remain largely unknown. Here, we addressed this by utilizing an interdisciplinary approach involving field water status phenotyping, sampling, and gene expression analyses. Overall, changes at the transcriptional level were reflected in plant spectral traits amenable to field-level physiological measurements, although changes in photosynthesis-related pathways were found likely to be under more complex post-transcriptional control. Examining homoeologous genes with a 1:1:1 relationship across the A, B, and D genomes (triads), we revealed a complex genomic architecture for drought responses under field conditions, involving gene homoeolog specialization, multiple gene clusters, gene families, miRNAs, and transcription factors coordinating these responses. Our results provide a new focus for genomics-assisted breeding of drought-tolerant wheat cultivars.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0294342