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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Logan, Utah » Forage and Range Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #248650
Title: Gene Expression Polymorphisms in Lateral and Upward Growing Subterranean Shoot Meristems of Elymus Wheatgrasses

Author
item Mott, Ivan
item WYLER, S - Case Western Reserve University (CWRU)
item Larson, Steven
item Bushman, Shaun

Submitted to: Plant and Animal Genome Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/10/2009
Publication Date: 1/9/2010
Citation: Mott, I.W., Wyler, S., Larson, S.R., Bushman, B.S. 2010. Gene Expression Polymorphisms in Lateral and Upward Growing Subterranean Shoot Meristems of Elymus Wheatgrasses. Plant and Animal Genome Conference.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Elymus lanceolatus (Thickspike wheatgrass) and Elymus wawawaiensis (Snake River wheatgrass) are perennial grasses common to the Great Plains and Intermountain regions of the Western United States. E. lanceolatus is a drought-tolerant rhizomatous grass that is valued for its forage and conservation qualities. E. wawawaiensis is a highly palatable bunch-type forage grass and is routinely one of the United States Bureau of Land Management's largest seed purchases for rangeland restoration work. Growth Habit, particularly the ability to spread by rhizomes, is an important trait in plant establishment and persistence, and influences the effectiveness of weedy species such as quackgrass. Negatively orthogeotropic (NOGT) tiller and diageotropic (DGT) rhizome meristems develop from the same type of lateral axillary meristems and phytomer structure. Although subterranean NOGT and DGT buds appear similar, they display different responses to gravity and perhaps other cues governing branch angle and overall growth habit. Suppression Subtration Hybridization (SSH) was used to compare expression profiles of E. wawawaiensis NOGT tiller and E. lanceolatus DGT rhizome meristems. We found 181 differentially expressed cDNAs out of 1152 subtracted cDNA clones that were screened. Sequencing results revealed that those 181 cDNAs represented 32 different genes. Twenty-three unknown genes were isolated along with brome virus protein, 14-3-3 proteins, thionins and putative fructose-bisphosphate aldolase.