O-linked N-acetylglucosamine transferase is involved in fine regulation of flowering time in winter wheat

Abstract

AbstractVernalization genes underlying dramatic differences in flowering time between spring wheat and winter wheat have been studied extensively, but little is known about genes that regulate subtler differences in flowering time among winter wheat cultivars, which account for approximately 75% of wheat grown worldwide. Here, we identify a gene encoding anO-linkedN-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) transferase (OGT) that differentiates heading date between winter wheat cultivars Duster and Billings. We clone thisTaOGT1gene from a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for heading date in a mapping population derived from these two bread wheat cultivars and analyzed in various environments. Transgenic complementation analysis shows that constitutive overexpression ofTaOGT1bfrom Billings accelerates the heading of transgenic Duster plants.TaOGT1 is able to transfer anO-GlcNAc group to wheat proteinTaGRP2. Our findings establish important roles forTaOGT1in winter wheat in adaptation to global warming in the future climate scenarios.