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Natural variation at the soybean J locus improves adaptation to the tropics and enhances yield

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Abstract
Soybean is a major legume crop originating in temperate regions, and photoperiod responsiveness is a key factor in its latitudinal adaptation. Varieties from temperate regions introduced to lower latitudes mature early and have extremely low grain yields. Introduction of the long-juvenile (LJ) trait extends the vegetative phase and improves yield under short-day conditions, thereby enabling expansion of cultivation in tropical regions. Here we report the cloning and characterization of J, the major classical locus conferring the LJ trait, and identify J as the ortholog of Arabidopsis thaliana EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3). J depends genetically on the legume-specific flowering repressor E1, and J protein physically associates with the E1 promoter to downregulate its transcription, relieving repression of two important FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) genes and promoting flowering under short days. Our findings identify an important new component in flowering-time control in soybean and provide new insight into soybean adaptation to tropical regions.
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: | Lu, S and Zhao, X and Hu, Y and Liu, S and Nan, H and Li, Xiaoming and Fang, C and Cao, D and Shi, X and Kong, L and Su, T and Zhang, F and Li, S and Wang, Z and Yuan, X and Cober, ER and Weller, JL and Liu, B and Hou, X and Tian, Z and Kong, F |
Keywords: | soybean, J locus, yield, tropics, genetic adaptation, variation, legume crops, ELF3 |
Journal or Publication Title: | Nature Genetics |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
ISSN: | 1061-4036 |
DOI / ID Number: | 10.1038/ng.3819 |
Copyright Information: | © 2017 Nature America |
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