德国波恩大学Frank Hochholdinger，Peng Yu，中国农业科学院Tianyu Wang和美国宾夕法尼亚州立大学Ruairidh J. H. Sawers共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们研究提出玉米驯化和全球扩张过程中幼苗根系对水分供应的适应性机制。相关研究成果2024年5月22日在线发表于《自然—遗传学》杂志上。

据介绍，在全球适应新农业环境的过程中，玉米根系通过间接选择进行了重塑。

研究人员对全球9000多份玉米材料及其野生亲缘关系的根系进行了表征，确定了种子根数量变化的地理特征和基因组基础。研究证明，在玉米驯化过程中，种子根数量增加，随后由于当地适应品种的有限水分可用性而减少。通过将环境和表型关联分析与连锁图谱相结合，研究人员鉴定了连接环境变异和种子根数量的基因。转录因子ZmHb77的功能表征和计算机根系建模提供了证据，表明通过减少种子根数量和提高侧根密度来重塑根系结构有利于玉米幼苗的抗旱性。

附：英文原文

Title: Seedling root system adaptation to water availability during maize domestication and global expansion

Author: Yu, Peng, Li, Chunhui, Li, Meng, He, Xiaoming, Wang, Danning, Li, Hongjie, Marcon, Caroline, Li, Yu, Perez-Limn, Sergio, Chen, Xinping, Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel, Koller, Robert, Metzner, Ralf, van Dusschoten, Dagmar, Pflugfelder, Daniel, Borisjuk, Ljudmilla, Plutenko, Iaroslav, Mahon, Audrey, Resende, Marcio F. R., Salvi, Silvio, Akale, Asegidew, Abdalla, Mohanned, Ahmed, Mutez Ali, Bauer, Felix Maximilian, Schnepf, Andrea, Lobet, Guillaume, Heymans, Adrien, Suresh, Kiran, Schreiber, Lukas, McLaughlin, Chloee M., Li, Chunjian, Mayer, Manfred, Schn, Chris-Carolin, Bernau, Vivian, von Wirn, Nicolaus, Sawers, Ruairidh J. H., Wang, Tianyu, Hochholdinger, Frank

Issue&Volume: 2024-05-22

Abstract: The maize root system has been reshaped by indirect selection during global adaptation to new agricultural environments. In this study, we characterized the root systems of more than 9,000 global maize accessions and its wild relatives, defining the geographical signature and genomic basis of variation in seminal root number. We demonstrate that seminal root number has increased during maize domestication followed by a decrease in response to limited water availability in locally adapted varieties. By combining environmental and phenotypic association analyses with linkage mapping, we identified genes linking environmental variation and seminal root number. Functional characterization of the transcription factor ZmHb77 and in silico root modeling provides evidence that reshaping root system architecture by reducing the number of seminal roots and promoting lateral root density is beneficial for the resilience of maize seedlings to drought.

DOI: 10.1038/s41588-024-01761-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-024-01761-3