Semi-dwarfism and lodging tolerance in tef (Eragrostis tef) is linked to a mutation in the α-Tubulin 1 gene.
Genetic improvement of native crops is a new and promising strategy to combat hunger in the developing world. Tef is the major staple food crop for approximately 50 million people in Ethiopia. As an indigenous cereal, it is well adapted to diverse climatic and soil conditions; however, its productivity is extremely low mainly due to susceptibility to lodging. Tef has a tall and weak stem, liable to lodge (or fall over), which is aggravated by wind, rain, or application of nitrogen fertilizer. To circumvent this problem, the first semi-dwarf lodging-tolerant tef line, called kegne, was developed from an ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS)-mutagenized population. The response of kegne to microtubule-depolymerizing and -stabilizing drugs, as well as subsequent gene sequencing and segregation analysis, suggests that a defect in the α-Tubulin gene is functionally and genetically tightly linked to the kegne phenotype. In diploid species such as rice, homozygous mutations in α-Tubulin genes result in extreme dwarfism and weak stems. In the allotetraploid tef, only one homeologue is mutated, and the presence of the second intact α-Tubulin gene copy confers the agriculturally beneficial semi-dwarf and lodging-tolerant phenotype. Introgression of kegne into locally adapted and popular tef cultivars in Ethiopia will increase the lodging tolerance in the tef germplasm and, as a result, will improve the productivity of this valuable crop.
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Moritz
M
Jöst
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Korinna
K
Esfeld
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Agata
A
Burian
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Gina
G
Cannarozzi
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, PO Box 32, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.
Solomon
S
Chanyalew
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland.
Cris
C
Kuhlemeier
Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, PO Box 32, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia.
Kebebew
K
Assefa
Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013 Bern, Switzerland zerihun.tadele@ips.unibe.ch.
Zerihun
Z
Tadele
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D031750:Eragrostis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014404:Tubulin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
D010940:Plant Proteins; D014404:Tubulin
Ergarostis tef; kegne; lodging; microtubules; semi-dwarf; tef; α-Tubulin.