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Organellar Signaling Expands Plant Phenotypic Variation And Increases The Potential For Breeding The Epigenome, Roberto De La Rosa Santamaria
Organellar Signaling Expands Plant Phenotypic Variation And Increases The Potential For Breeding The Epigenome, Roberto De La Rosa Santamaria
Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
MUTS HOMOLOGUE 1 (MSH1) is a nuclear gene unique to plants that functions in mitochondria and plastids, where it confers genome stability. Phenotypic effects of MSH1 down- regulation were studied in sorghum inbreed line Tx430 and Arabidopsis ecotype Columbia-0, with the hypothesis that RNAi suppression of MSH1 triggers retrograde signaling from organelles to the nucleus, alters the epigenome, and derives heritable phenotypic variation suitable for artificial selection. An array of morphological traits and metabolic pathways was detected, including leaf variegation, male sterility and dwarfism, associated with altered gibberellic acid metabolism, higher levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and decreased synthesis …