Selection During Maize Domestication Targeted a Gene Network Controlling Plant and Inflorescence Architecture

• Published in: Genetics (Austin) 2017-10, Vol.207 (2), p.755-765
• Main Authors: Studer, Anthony J, Wang, Huai, Doebley, John F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Architecture; Barley; Basic-Leucine Zipper Transcription Factors - genetics; Cell cycle; Corn; Domestication; Embryos; Evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Flowers - genetics; Flowers - growth & development; Gene Regulatory Networks; Genes; Genetics; Grain; Hierarchies; Identification methods; Investigations; MADS box proteins; Oryza; Plant Breeding; Plant Proteins - genetics; Regulators; Rice; Selection, Genetic; Selective Breeding; Sorghum; Transcription; Zea luxurians; Zea mays; Zea mays - genetics; Zea mays - growth & development
• ISSN: 1943-2631; 0016-6731; 1943-2631
• DOI: 10.1534/genetics.117.300071

Selection during evolution, whether natural or artificial, acts through the phenotype. For multifaceted phenotypes such as plant and inflorescence architecture, the underlying genetic architecture is comprised of a complex network of interacting genes rather than single genes that act independently to determine the trait. As such, selection acts on entire gene networks. Here, we begin to define the genetic regulatory network to which the maize domestication gene, ( ), belongs. Using a combination of molecular methods to uncover either direct or indirect regulatory interactions, we identified a set of genes that lie downstream of in a gene network regulating both plant and inflorescence architecture. Additional genes, known from the literature, also act in this network. We observed that regulates both core cell cycle genes and another maize domestication gene, ( ). We show that several members of the MADS-box gene family are either directly or indirectly regulated by and/or , and that sits atop a cascade of transcriptional regulators controlling both plant and inflorescence architecture. Multiple members of the network appear to have been the targets of selection during maize domestication. Knowledge of the regulatory hierarchies controlling traits is central to understanding how new morphologies evolve.