Cloning of DOG1 , a quantitative trait locus controlling seed dormancy in Arabidopsis

doi:10.1073/pnas.0607877103

Cloning of DOG1, a quantitative trait locus controlling seed dormancy in Arabidopsis

*Laboratory of Genetics, Wageningen University, Arboretumlaan 4, 6703 BD Wageningen, The Netherlands; and
^§Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Carl-von-Linné-Weg 10, 50829 Cologne, Germany

Contributed by Maarten Koornneef, September 14, 2006

Abstract

Genetic variation for seed dormancy in nature is a typical quantitative trait controlled by multiple loci on which environmental factors have a strong effect. Finding the genes underlying dormancy quantitative trait loci is a major scientific challenge, which also has relevance for agriculture and ecology. In this study we describe the identification of the DELAY OF GERMINATION 1 (DOG1) gene previously identified as a quantitative trait locus involved in the control of seed dormancy. This gene was isolated by a combination of positional cloning and mutant analysis and is absolutely required for the induction of seed dormancy. DOG1 is a member of a small gene family of unknown molecular function, with five members in Arabidopsis. The functional natural allelic variation present in Arabidopsis is caused by polymorphisms in the cis-regulatory region of the DOG1 gene and results in considerable expression differences between the DOG1 alleles of the accessions analyzed.

Footnotes

^¶To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: koornnee{at}mpizmail.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de
Author contributions: L.B. and M.K. designed research; L.B., J.J., and C.J.H. performed research; L.B. analyzed data; and L.B. and M.K. wrote the paper.
↵ ^†Present address: Department of Molecular Plant Physiology, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands.
↵ ^‡Present address: Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology, College of Biological Science, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data deposition: The sequences reported in this paper have been deposited in the GenBank database (accession nos. EF028465–EF028472).
Abbreviations:

QTL,

quantitative trait locus;

ABA,

abscisic acid;

GA,

gibberellin;

NIL,

near isogenic line;

Ler,

Landsberg erecta.