title: A Tourist-like MITE insertion in the upstream region of the BnFLC.A10 gene is associated with vernalization requirement in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.).
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) has spring and winter genotypes adapted to different growing seasons. Winter genotypes do not flower before the onset of winter, thus leading to a longer vegetative growth period that promotes the accumulation and allocation of more resources to seed production. The development of winter genotypes enabled the rapeseed to spread rapidly from southern to northern Europe and other temperate regions of the world. The molecular basis underlying the evolutionary transition from spring- to winter- type rapeseed is not known, however, and needs to be elucidated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We fine-mapped the spring environment specific quantitative trait locus (QTL) for flowering time, qFT10-4,in a doubled haploid (DH) mapping population of rapeseed derived from a cross between Tapidor (winter-type) and Ningyou7 (semi-winter) and delimited the qFT10-4 to an 80-kb region on chromosome A10 of B. napus. The BnFLC.A10 gene, an ortholog of FLOWERING LOCUS C (FLC) in Arabidopsis, was cloned from the QTL. We identified 12 polymorphic sites between BnFLC.A10 parental alleles of the TN-DH population in the upstream region and in intron 1. Expression of both BnFLC.A10 alleles decreased during vernalization, but decreased more slowly in the winter parent Tapidor. Haplotyping and association analysis showed that one of the polymorphic sites upstream of BnFLC.A10 is strongly associated with the vernalization requirement of rapeseed (r2 = 0.93, χ2 = 0.50). This polymorphic site is derived from a Tourist-like miniature inverted-repeat transposable element (MITE) insertion/deletion in the upstream region of BnFLC.A10. The MITE sequence was not present in the BnFLC.A10 gene in spring-type rapeseed, nor in ancestral 'A' genome species B. rapa genotypes. Our results suggest that the insertion may have occurred in winter rapeseed after B. napus speciation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings strongly suggest that (i) BnFLC.A10 is the gene underlying qFT10-4, the QTL for phenotypic diversity of flowering time in the TN-DH population, (ii) the allelic diversity caused by MITE insertion/deletion upstream of BnFLC.A10 is one of the major causes of differentiation of winter and spring genotypes in rapeseed and (iii) winter rapeseed has evolved from spring genotypes through selection pressure at the BnFLC.A10 locus, enabling expanded cultivation of rapeseed along the route of Brassica domestication.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
authors.forename: Jinna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Harsh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raman
authors.forename: Xiaoxiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shutao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Qinqin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Cong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Longjiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jinling
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meng
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001483:Base Sequence; D029688:Brassica napus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D035264:Flowers; D017343:Genes, Plant; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D054643:INDEL Mutation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012621:Seasons
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements