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Title: Modifications to a LATE MERISTEM IDENTITY-1 gene are responsible for the major leaf shapes of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Author
item Andres, Ryan
item CONEVA, VIKTORIYA - Danforth Plant Science Center
item FRANK, MARGARET - Danforth Plant Science Center
item TUTTLE, JOHN - North Carolina State University
item SAMAYOA, LUIS - North Carolina State University
item HAN, SANG-WON - North Carolina State University
item KAUR, BALJINDER - North Carolina State University
item ZHU, LINGLONG - North Carolina State University
item FANG, HUI - North Carolina State University
item BOWMAN, DARYL - North Carolina State University
item ROJAS-PIERCE, MARCELA - North Carolina State University
item HAIGLER, CANDACE - North Carolina State University
item JONES, C - Cotton, Inc
item Holland, Jim - Jim
item CHITWOOD, DANIEL - Danforth Plant Science Center
item KURAPARTHY, VASU - North Carolina State University

Submitted to: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/17/2016
Publication Date: 12/20/2016
Citation: Andres, R.J., Coneva, V., Frank, M.H., Tuttle, J.R., Samayoa, L.F., Han, S., Kaur, B., Zhu, L., Fang, H., Bowman, D.T., Rojas-Pierce, M., Haigler, C.H., Jones, C., Holland, J.B., Chitwood, D.H., Kuraparthy, V. 2016. Modifications to a LATE MERISTEM IDENTITY-1 gene are responsible for the major leaf shapes of Upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114:E57-E66.

Interpretive Summary: Cotton varieties differ for the shape of their leaves. Typical cotton varieties have ‘normal’ broad-lobed leaves, whereas ‘okra’ varieties have leaves with long thin lobes that resemble okra plant leaves. Okra leaf shape is associated with some reduced susceptibility with diseases possibly due to increased air flow within the plant canopy. Okra leaf type is also associated with reduced yield potential, however. Identifying the gene(s) that control leaf shape in cotton could lead to genetic manipulation to alter leaf shape at different times in the plant’s development cycle to possibly combine high yield potential and improved disease resistance in a single variety. In this paper, we describe the identification and validation of a gene controlling this leaf shape difference in cotton.

Technical Abstract: Leaf shape varies spectacularly among plants. Leaves are the primary source of photo-assimilate in crop plants and understanding the genetic basis of variation in leaf morphology is critical to improving agricultural productivity. Leaf shape played a unique role in cotton improvement, as breeders have selected for entire and lobed leaf morphs resulting from a single locus, okra (LD1), which is responsible for the major leaf shapes in cotton. The L-D1 locus is not only of agricultural importance in cotton, but through pioneering chimeric and morphometric studies it has contributed to fundamental knowledge about leaf development. Here we show that an HDZip transcription factor homologous to the LATE MERISTEM IDENTITY1 (LMI1) gene of Arabidopsis is the causal gene underlying the L-D1 locus. The classical okra leaf shape allele has a133-bp tandem duplication in the promoter, correlated with elevated expression, while an 8-bp deletion in the third exon of the presumed wild-type normal allele causes a frame-shifted and truncated coding sequence. Our results indicate that sub-okra is the ancestral leaf shape of tetraploid cotton that gave rise to the okra allele and that normal is a derived mutant allele that came to predominate and define the leaf shape of cultivated cotton. Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) of the LMI1-like gene in an okra variety was sufficient to induce normal leaf formation. The developmental changes in leaves conferred by this gene are associated with a photosynthetic transcriptomic signature, substantiating its use by breeders to produce a superior cotton ideotype.