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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lubbock, Texas » Cropping Systems Research Laboratory » Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #370488
Research Project: Discovery and Improvement of Traits to Enhance Sorghum as a Multiple Purpose Crop

Location: Plant Stress and Germplasm Development Research

Title: COMPOSITUM 1 contributes to the architectural simplification of barley inflorescence via meristem identity signals

Author
item POURSAREBANI, N - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item TRAUTEWIG, C - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item MELZER, M - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item NUSSBAUMER, T - Technical University Of Munich
item LUNDQVIST, U - Nordic Genetic Resource Centre (NORDGEN)
item RUTTEN, T - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item SCHMUTZER, T - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item BRANDT, R - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item HIMMELBACH, A - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item ALTSCHMIED, LOTHAR - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item KOPPOLU, RAVI - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item YOUSSEF, HELMY - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item SIBOUT, RICHARD - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item DALMAIS, MARION - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item BENDAHMANE, ABDELHAFID - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item STEIN, N - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research
item Xin, Zhanguo
item SCHNURBUSCH, T - Leibniz Institute Of Plant Genetics And Crop Plant Research

Submitted to: Nature
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/15/2020
Publication Date: 10/12/2020
Citation: Poursarebani, N., Trautewig, C., Melzer, M., Nussbaumer, T., Lundqvist, U., Rutten, T., Schmutzer, T., Brandt, R., Himmelbach, A., Altschmied, L., Koppolu, R., Youssef, H.M., Sibout, R., Dalmais, M., Bendahmane, A., Stein, N., Xin, Z., Schnurbusch, T. 2020. COMPOSITUM 1 contributes to the architectural simplification of barley inflorescence via meristem identity signals. Nature. 11:5138. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18890-y.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18890-y

Interpretive Summary: Grasses encompass a wide variety of species, including many important agricultural crops such as corn, oats, barley, wheat, rice, etc. These crops and other grass species have flowers with diverse sizes and shapes. The genes which control this diversity is unknown. In this paper, a gene known as COMPOSITUM1 (COM1) is described and is shown to control how flower structures develop in grasses. This discovery provides new knowledge to understand the evolution and development of flower structures in cereal crops and opens the door to finding new ways to increase seed production and yield.

Technical Abstract: Grasses have varying inflorescence shapes; however, little is known about the genetic mechanisms specifying such shapes among tribes. We identified the grass-specific TCP transcription factor COMPOSITUM1 (COM1) expressed in inflorescence meristematic boundaries of different grasses. COM1 specifies “branch-inhibition” in Triticeae-barley versus “branch-formation” in non-Triticeae grasses. Analyses of cell size, cell walls and transcripts revealed barley COM1 regulates cell growth, affecting cell wall properties and signaling specifically in meristematic boundaries to establish identity of adjacent meristems. COM1 acts upstream of the boundary gene Liguleless1, and confers meristem identity independent of the COM2 pathway. Furthermore, COM1 is subject to purifying natural selection, thereby contributing to specification of the “spike” inflorescence shape. This meristem identity module provides conceivable implications for inflorescence evolution but similarly molecular breeding in Triticeae.