title: Natural variation reveals that intracellular distribution of ELF3 protein is associated with function in the circadian clock.
abstract: Natural selection of variants within the Arabidopsis thaliana circadian clock can be attributed to adaptation to varying environments. To define a basis for such variation, we examined clock speed in a reporter-modified Bay-0 x Shakdara recombinant inbred line and localized heritable variation. Extensive variation led us to identify EARLY FLOWERING3 (ELF3) as a major quantitative trait locus (QTL). The causal nucleotide polymorphism caused a short-period phenotype under light and severely dampened rhythm generation in darkness, and entrainment alterations resulted. We found that ELF3-Sha protein failed to properly localize to the nucleus, and its ability to accumulate in darkness was compromised. Evidence was provided that the ELF3-Sha allele originated in Central Asia. Collectively, we showed that ELF3 protein plays a vital role in defining its light-repressor action in the circadian clock and that its functional abilities are largely dependent on its cellular localization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Muhammad Usman
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Anwer
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boikoglou
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Herrero
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hallstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Amanda Melaragno
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Geo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Velikkakam James
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology, Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary.
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Developmental Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany.
authors.forename: Seth Jon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Davis
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D057906:Circadian Clocks; D035264:Flowers; D005843:Geography; D008027:Light; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019076:Transgenes
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; C432430:At2g25930 protein, Arabidopsis
keywords: QTL mapping/cloning; arabidopsis; cell biology; circadian clock; eQTL; evolutionary biology; genomics; plant biology; population analysis