title: Genetic control of heterochrony in Eucalyptus globulus.
abstract: A change in the timing or rate of developmental events throughout ontogeny is referred to as heterochrony, and it is a major evolutionary process in plants and animals. We investigated the genetic basis for natural variation in the timing of vegetative phase change in the tree Eucalyptus globulus, which undergoes a dramatic change in vegetative morphology during the juvenile-to-adult transition. Quantitative trait loci analysis in an outcross F2 family derived from crosses between individuals from a coastal population of E. globulus with precocious vegetative phase change and individuals from populations in which vegetative phase change occurs several years later implicated the microRNA EglMIR156.5 as a potential contributor to this heterochronic difference. Additional evidence for the involvement of EglMIR156.5 was provided by its differential expression in trees with early and late phase change. Our findings suggest that changes in the expression of miR156 underlie natural variation in vegetative phase change in E. globulus, and may also explain interspecific differences in the timing of this developmental transition.
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: Corey J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and National Centre for Future Forest Industries, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering, and Collaborative Research Network, University of the Sunshine Coast, Locked Bag 4, Maroochydore, Queensland, 4558, Australia r.vaillancourt@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: Jules S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and National Centre for Future Forest Industries, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: Rebecca C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and National Centre for Future Forest Industries, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: Brad M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Potts
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Drive, Saskatoon Saskatchewan, S7N 5A8, Canada.
authors.forename: Melissa M L
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: James L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Weller
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia.
authors.forename: Valérie F G
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Hecht
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6018.
authors.forename: R Scott
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Poethig
authors.affiliation: School of Biological Sciences and National Centre for Future Forest Industries, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 55, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001, Australia r.vaillancourt@utas.edu.au.
authors.forename: René E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Vaillancourt
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D005052:Eucalyptus / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D018745:Genome, Plant; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000378:metabolism; D010641:Phenotype; D040641:Quantitative Trait Loci; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: QTL; adaptation; eucalypts; heterochrony; microRNA