Genome Mapping Reveals Developmental and Environmental Impacts

Through a genomewide association mapping of defense genes, UC Davis scientists have found that complex traits for plant adaption to environmental challenges are influenced by variations in thousands of genes which are also affected by plant's growth and the external environment. Lead author Daniel Kliebenstein and colleagues measured glucosinolates (GSL), a plant produced insect and disease protectant in different developmental stages of Arabidopsis thaliana and treated with or without silver nitrate to mimick environmental stress.

On the results published in PLoS Genetics, Kliebenstein said, "We showed that both external and internal environments altered the identified genes so significantly that using plant tissues from different developmental stages, or that were treated with the silver nitrate, led to the identification of very different gene sets for particular traits."

In addition, the researchers developed a new process for winnowing candidate genes by analyzing overlapping datasets of genomic information to filter out true-positive gene identifications.

For more detailed information, see http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=9972