Abstract Detail

Functional Genetics/Genomics

McAssey, Edward [1], Lail, Lauren [2], Sonon, Virgille [2], Lu, Zefu [3], Schmitz, Robert [3], Parrott, Wayne [4].

Transposon mutagenesis in soybean.

Transposon mutagenesis is capable of creating heritable mutant phenotypes that allow gene-phenotype relationships to be established. The usage of mPing has generated mutant phenotypes occurring throughout the lifecycle: leaf color and shape, time to maturity, plant size, and seed color. Understanding the genetic basis of traits in a model crop species like Glycine max has the potential to inform comparative genomic investigations in related organisms. Previous studies have indicated that mPing, a rice DNA transposon, often inserts up- or down-stream of genes. Therefore, there is a possibility that mPing insertions have the potential to modulate gene expression by disrupting important cis-regulatory sequences. To produce additional mPing insertions we have subjected lines to tissue culture to enhance transposition. In order to map new insertions, we used high-throughput sequencing to compare the original parents to tissue culture derived plants. Here we present a lineage of plants containing at least six new, and heritable, mPing insertions that are within 10 kb of genes. Additional work in soybean has shown that four of six of these insertion locations are found in open chromatin, which only makes up a small percentage of the genome. This suggests that chromatin structure is an important determinant of transposon occupancy. To further assess the role of these insertions we are performing quantitative RT-PCR experiments to look for differential expression of these six gene models in a variety of tissues including leaves, flowers, pods, and roots.

1 - University Of Georgia, Center For Applied Genetic Technologies, 111 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA, 30602, United States
2 - University of Georgia, Center for Applied Genetic Technologies, 111 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
3 - University of Georgia, Department of Genetics, 120 Green Street, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
4 - University of Georgia, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Institute of Plant Breeding, Genetics, and Genomics, Center for Applied Genetic Technologies, 111 Riverbend Road, Athens, GA, 30602, USA

Keywords:
Transposons
mutagenesis
Functional genomics
Glycine max
High-throughput sequencing.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 8, Functional Genetics and Genomics
Location: 109/Mayo Civic Center
Date: Monday, July 23rd, 2018
Time: 9:00 AM
Number: 8003
Abstract ID:278
Candidate for Awards:Margaret Menzel Award