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Large deletions in the CBF gene cluster at the Fr-B2 locus are associated with reduced frost tolerance in wheat

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Abstract

Wheat plants which are exposed to periods of low temperatures (cold acclimation) exhibit increased survival rates when they are subsequently exposed to freezing temperatures. This process is associated with large-scale changes in the transcriptome which are modulated by a set of tandemly duplicated C-repeat Binding Factor (CBF) transcription factors located at the Frost Resistance-2 (Fr-2) locus. While Arabidopsis has three tandemly duplicated CBF genes, the CBF family in wheat has undergone an expansion and at least 15 CBF genes have been identified, 11 of which are present at the Fr-2 loci on homeologous group 5 chromosomes. We report here the discovery of three large deletions which eliminate 6, 9, and all 11 CBF genes from the Fr-B2 locus in tetraploid and hexaploid wheat. In wild emmer wheat, the Fr-B2 deletions were found only among the accessions from the southern sub-populations. Among cultivated wheats, the Fr-B2 deletions were more common among varieties with a spring growth habit than among those with a winter growth habit. Replicated freezing tolerance experiments showed that both the deletion of nine CBF genes in tetraploid wheat and the complete Fr-B2 deletion in hexaploid wheat were associated with significant reductions in survival after exposure to freezing temperatures. Our results suggest that selection for the wild-type Fr-B2 allele may be beneficial for breeders selecting for varieties with improved frost tolerance.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by the National Research Initiative grants number 2008-35100-04562 and 2011-68002-30029 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Dr. Gábor Galiba’s group acknowledges support from the Hungarian Research Fund ‘OTKA’ No K75528 and CNK80781 and from the National Development Agency (TÁMOP-4.2.2/B-10/1-2010-0025, University of Pannonia).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Stephen Pearce & Jorge Dubcovsky

  2. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA

    Jorge Dubcovsky

  3. Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Jorge Dubcovsky

  4. USDA-ARS Wheat Genetics, Quality, Physiology and Disease Research Unit, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, 99164, USA

    Jie Zhu, Adrienne Burke & Kimberley Garland-Campbell

  5. Agricultural Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Brunszvik u. 2, Martonvásár, 2462, Hungary

    Ákos Boldizsár, Attila Vágújfalvi & Gábor Galiba

  6. Doctoral School of Molecular and Nanotechnologies, Faculty of Information Technology, University of Pannonia, Egyetemu. 10, Veszprém, 8200, Hungary

    Gábor Galiba

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  1. Stephen Pearce
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  2. Jie Zhu
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  3. Ákos Boldizsár
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  4. Attila Vágújfalvi
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  6. Kimberley Garland-Campbell
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  7. Gábor Galiba
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  8. Jorge Dubcovsky
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Correspondence to Jorge Dubcovsky.

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Communicated by H.-C. Jing.

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Pearce, S., Zhu, J., Boldizsár, Á. et al. Large deletions in the CBF gene cluster at the Fr-B2 locus are associated with reduced frost tolerance in wheat. Theor Appl Genet 126, 2683–2697 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-013-2165-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-013-2165-y

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