title: Induced mutations in circadian clock regulator Mat-a facilitated short-season adaptation and range extension in cultivated barley.
abstract: Time to flowering has an important impact on yield and has been a key trait in the domestication of crop plants and the spread of agriculture. In 1961, the cultivar Mari (mat-a.8) was the very first induced early barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) mutant to be released into commercial production. Mari extended the range of two-row spring barley cultivation as a result of its photoperiod insensitivity. Since its release, Mari or its derivatives have been used extensively across the world to facilitate short-season adaptation and further geographic range extension. By exploiting an extended historical collection of early-flowering mutants of barley, we identified Praematurum-a (Mat-a), the gene responsible for this key adaptive phenotype, as a homolog of the Arabidopsis thaliana circadian clock regulator Early Flowering 3 (Elf3). We characterized 87 induced mat-a mutant lines and identified >20 different mat-a alleles that had clear mutations leading to a defective putative ELF3 protein. Expression analysis of HvElf3 and Gigantea in mutant and wild-type plants demonstrated that mat-a mutations disturb the flowering pathway, leading to the early phenotype. Alleles of Mat-a therefore have important and demonstrated breeding value in barley but probably also in many other day-length-sensitive crop plants, where they may tune adaptation to different geographic regions and climatic conditions, a critical issue in times of global warming.
authors.affiliation: Carlsberg Laboratory, 1799 Copenhagen V,  Denmark.
authors.forename: Shakhira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zakhrabekova
authors.forename: Simon P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Gough
authors.forename: Ilka
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Braumann
authors.forename: André H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Joakim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lundqvist
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ahmann
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dockter
authors.forename: Izabela
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matyszczak
authors.forename: Marzena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurowska
authors.forename: Arnis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Druka
authors.forename: Robbie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Waugh
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Graner
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: Burkhard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Steuernagel
authors.forename: Udda
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lundqvist
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hansson
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000383:Agriculture; D057906:Circadian Clocks / Q000235:genetics*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D035264:Flowers / Q000235:genetics; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D001467:Hordeum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics*; D010641:Phenotype; D020161:Physical Chromosome Mapping; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012621:Seasons; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D026801:Synteny / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant; D010940:Plant Proteins