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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Hard Winter Wheat Genetics Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #291412
Title: Single nucleotide polymorphisms in HSP17.8 and their association with agronomic traits in barley

Author
item YANSHI, XIA - Guangzhou University
item LI, RONGHUA - Guangzhou University
item NING, ZHENGXIANG - South China University Of Technology
item Bai, Guihua
item SIDDIQUE, KADAMBOT - University Of Western Australia
item YAN, GUIJUN - University Of Western Australia
item BAUN, MICHAEL - International Center For Agricultural Research In The Dry Areas (ICARDA)
item VARSHNEY, RK - International Center For Agricultural Research In The Dry Areas (ICARDA)
item GUO, PEIGUO - Guangzhou University

Submitted to: PLOS ONE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/2013
Publication Date: 2/13/2013
Publication URL: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0056816
Citation: Yanshi, X., Li, R., Ning, Z., Bai, G., Siddique, K., Yan, G., Baun, M., Varshney, R., Guo, P. 2013. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in HSP17.8 and their association with agronomic traits in barley. PLoS One. 8(2): e56816.

Interpretive Summary: A large amount of small heat shock protein 17.8 (HSP17.8) is produced in plant cells in response to heat and other stress and may play an important role in plant tolerance to stress environments. However, the sequences of the gene in different genotypes may vary, which results in their different capability to adapt to various stress conditions. In this study, we evaluated the HSP17.8 gene across 210 barley accessions for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Four SNPs in HSP17.8 were found to be associated with number of grains per spike, thousand kernel weight, plant height, flag leaf area or leaf color. The results suggest that sequence variation in HSP17.8 may contribute to drought tolerance in barley.

Technical Abstract: Small heat shock protein 17.8 (HSP17.8) is produced abundantly in plant cells under heat and other stress conditions and may play an important role in plant tolerance to stress environments. However, HSP17.8 may be differentially expressed in different accessions of a crop species exposed to identical stress conditions. The ability of different genotypes to adapt to various stress conditions resides in their genetic diversity. Allelic variations are the most common forms of genetic variation in natural populations. In this study, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the HSP17.8 gene were investigated across 210 barley accessions collected from 30 countries using EcoTILLING technology. Eleven SNPs including 10 from the coding region of HSP17.8 were detected, which form nine distinguishable haplotypes in the barley collection. Among the 10 SNPs in the coding region, six are missense mutations and four are synonymous nucleotide changes. Five of the six missense changes are predicted to be deleterious to HSP17.8 function. The accessions from Middle East Asia showed the higher nucleotide diversity of HSP17.8 than those from other regions and wild barley (H. spontaneum) accessions exhibited greater diversity than the cultivated barley (H. vulgare) accessions. Four SNPs in HSP17.8 were found associated with at least one of the agronomic traits evaluated except for spike length, namely number of grains per spike, thousand kernel weight, plant height, flag leaf area and leaf color. The association between SNP and these agronomic traits may provide new insight for study of the gene’s potential contribution to drought tolerance of barley.