Brassinosteroid and Gibberellin Control of Plant Height in Maize (Zea Mays
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Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2016 Brassinosteroid and gibberellin control of plant height in maize (Zea mays. L) Songlin Hu Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Agricultural Science Commons, Agriculture Commons, and the Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Hu, Songlin, "Brassinosteroid and gibberellin control of plant height in maize (Zea mays. L)" (2016). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 15936. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/15936 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Brassinosteroid and gibberellin control of plant height in maize (Zea mays. L) by Songlin Hu A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Plant Breeding Program of Study Committee: Thomas Lübberstedt, Major Professor Maria G. Salas Fernandez Yanhai Yin Michael Blanco Peng Liu Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2016 Copyright © Songlin Hu, 2016. All rights reserved. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... iv ABSTRACT………………………………. .............................................................. v CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION .......................................................... 1 Brassinosteroids ................................................................................................... 3 Gibberellins ......................................................................................................... 6 Quantitative Genetics of PHT in Maize ............................................................... 7 References ......................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2. GETTING THE ‘MOST’ OUT OF CROP IMPROVEMENT .......... 19 Abstract ........................................................................................................ 19 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 20 Development of MOST treatments ...................................................................... 25 Concluding Remarks ..................................................................................... 31 References ..................................................................................................... 32 Figures and Tables ......................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 3. GENETIC ARCHITECTURE OF PLANT HEIGHT IN MAIZE PHENOTYPE-SELECTED INTROGRESSION FAMILIES ..................... 46 Abstract ........................................................................................................ 46 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 47 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................... 51 Results ......................................................................................................... 55 Discussion ......................................................................................................... 58 References ........................................................................................................ 64 Figures and Tables ........................................................................................... 71 CHAPTER 4. GIBBERELLINS PROMOTE BRASSINOSTEROIDS AND BOTH INCREASE HETEROSIS FOR PLANT HEIGHT IN MAIZE .................... 92 Abstract ........................................................................................................ 92 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 94 Results ......................................................................................................... 97 Discussion ................................................................................................... 102 iii Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 109 Methods ......................................................................................................... 110 References ..................................................................................................... 118 Figures and Tables ........................................................................................... 126 CHAPTER 5. BRASSINOSTEROID AND GIBBERELLIN CONTROL OF SEEDLING TRAITS IN MAIZE .............................................................................. 166 Summary ...................................................................................................... 166 Introduction ................................................................................................... 166 Results ......................................................................................................... 170 Discussion ...................................................................................................... 176 Experimental Procedures ..................................................................................... 183 References ......................................................................................................... 189 Figures and Tables ........................................................................................ 197 CHAPTER 6. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS ............................................................ 218 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to take this chance to thank those who helped me throughout my graduate career for support in all facets. First, I want to thank my advisor Thomas Lübberstedt and the entire lab members for their efforts in helping me with advice and support. Next, I want to thank my POS committee members, who have always been willing to give helpful advice and a lot of support. I would also like to thank my collaborators Dr. Alex Lipka and Dr. Candice Gardener on my projects. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their love and support, also my friends, colleagues, the department faculty and staff for making my time at Iowa State University a wonderful experience. v ABSTRACT Brassinosteroids (BRs) and gibberellins (GAs) are two major plant hormones involved in many plant developmental processes. However, the knowledge of BR and GA control of agronomic traits in maize is limited compared to model species Arabidopsis and rice, especially BR. This PhD project focused on BR and GA control of plant height from genetics and plant biology perspectives, as these two plant hormones have shown great impact for shaping plant height, and a short/tall stature of maize height is beneficial for grain/biomass production, respectively. We introgressed multiple exotic accessions into two maize heterotic groups Stiff Stalk and Non Stiff Stalk, with phenotype selection for taller plant height and undistinguishable flowering time as temperate elite lines. Finally, we created two backcross libraries varied with plant height and the level of heterozygosity. Moreover, another two doubled-haploid libraries were established without any phenotype selection as a comparison. We conducted genome-wide association studies to investigate plant height, BR and GA candidate genes, and explored co-localizations. In addition, we compared BR and GA control of plant height in heterozygotes (backcross families) and inbred lines (doubled haploid lines) by correlating seeding BR/GA inhibitor response with field plant height. We found that discovered plant height associated genomic regions were overlapped with BR and GA candidate genes. Moreover, we found that seedling stage BR and GA inhibitor response was able to predict plant height for heterozygotes, but not inbred lines. Path analyses showed that higher level of heterozygosity increased GA level, and GA promoted BR (by crosstalk), finally BR and GA will increase heterosis in maize plant height. 1 CHAPTER 1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION Modern agriculture remarkably increased food production, yet one in nine people remain undernourished and unable to consume sufficient protein and energy [1]. Although plant breeding activities have been very successful in the past few decades (e.g. Green Revolution) as a linear increase at an average rate of 32 million metric tons per year has been achieved for yield [2], this is not sufficient, as the global population likely exceeding 9 billion by 2050. An average annual increase of 44 million metric tons per year is needed [1, 3] to address the food crisis. Moreover, altered consumption habits, climate change and production of raw materials for biofuels and other products may require further increase in crop productivity and stability. Manipulation of plant architecture is an effective way to improve crop yield, also for increasing pest and disease resistance. Primary growth, branching and reiteration allow the plant to develop its 3D structure to escape or survive to attacks [4]. The principles and controls of plant architecture underlie