TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural variation in plant telomere length is associated with flowering time
AU - Choi, Jae Young
AU - Abdulkina, Liliia R.
AU - Yin, Jun
AU - Chastukhina, Inna B.
AU - Lovell, John T.
AU - Agabekian, Inna A.
AU - Young, Pierce G.
AU - Razzaque, Samsad
AU - Shippen, Dorothy E.
AU - Juenger, Thomas E.
AU - Shakirov, Eugene V.
AU - Purugganan, Michael D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program (IOS-1546218) and the Zegar Family Foundation (A16-0051) to M.D.P, National Institutes of Health (R01 GM127402 to E.V.S. and R01 GM065383 to D.E.S), Russian Foundation for Basic Research (18-34-00629 to L.R.A.), and funds from the Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan Federal University.
Publisher Copyright:
VC The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Telomeres are highly repetitive DNA sequences found at the ends of chromosomes that protect the chromosomes from deterioration duringcell division. Here, using whole-genome re-sequencing and terminal restriction fragment assays, we found substantial natural intraspecific variation in telomere length in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice (Oryza sativa), and maize (Zea mays). Genome-wide association study (GWAS) mapping in A. thaliana identified 13 regions with GWAS-significant associations underlying telomere length variation, including a region that harbors the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene. Population genomic analysis provided evidence for a selective sweep at the TERT region associated with longer telomeres. We found that telomere length is negatively correlated with flowering time variation not only in A. thaliana, but also in maize and rice, indicating a link between life-history traits and chromosome integrity. Our results point to several possible reasons for this correlation, including the possibility that longer telomeres may be more adaptive in plants that have faster developmental rates (and therefore flower earlier). Our work suggests that chromosomal structure itself might be an adaptive trait associated with plant life-history strategies.
AB - Telomeres are highly repetitive DNA sequences found at the ends of chromosomes that protect the chromosomes from deterioration duringcell division. Here, using whole-genome re-sequencing and terminal restriction fragment assays, we found substantial natural intraspecific variation in telomere length in Arabidopsis thaliana, rice (Oryza sativa), and maize (Zea mays). Genome-wide association study (GWAS) mapping in A. thaliana identified 13 regions with GWAS-significant associations underlying telomere length variation, including a region that harbors the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene. Population genomic analysis provided evidence for a selective sweep at the TERT region associated with longer telomeres. We found that telomere length is negatively correlated with flowering time variation not only in A. thaliana, but also in maize and rice, indicating a link between life-history traits and chromosome integrity. Our results point to several possible reasons for this correlation, including the possibility that longer telomeres may be more adaptive in plants that have faster developmental rates (and therefore flower earlier). Our work suggests that chromosomal structure itself might be an adaptive trait associated with plant life-history strategies.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85107390730&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85107390730&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/plcell/koab022
DO - 10.1093/plcell/koab022
M3 - Article
C2 - 33580702
AN - SCOPUS:85107390730
VL - 33
SP - 1118
EP - 1134
JO - Plant Cell
JF - Plant Cell
SN - 1040-4651
IS - 4
ER -