Secondary dormancy in Brassica napus is correlated with enhanced BnaDOG1 transcript levels. Issue 2 (June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Née, Guillaume; Obeng-Hinneh, Evelyn; Sarvari, Pourya; Nakabayashi, Kazumi; Soppe, Wim J.J.
• Is Part Of: Seed science research. Volume 25:Issue 2(2015)
• Page Start: 221
• Page End: 229
• Publication Date: 2015-06
• Subjects: Seeds -- Periodicals; 631.521
• DOI: 10.1017/S0960258514000427
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0960-2585

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="normal"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Dormancy has evolved in plants to restrict germination to favourable growth seasons. Seeds from most crop plants have low dormancy levels due to selection for immediate germination during domestication. Seed dormancy is usually not completely lost and low levels are required to maintain sufficient seed quality. <italic>Brassica napus</italic> cultivars show low levels of primary seed dormancy. However, <italic>B. napus</italic> seeds are prone to the induction of secondary dormancy, which can lead to the occurrence of volunteers in the field in subsequent years after cultivation. The <italic>DELAY OF GERMINATION 1</italic> (<italic>DOG1</italic>) gene has been identified as a major dormancy gene in the model plant <italic>Arabidopsis thaliana</italic>. <italic>DOG1</italic> is a conserved gene and has been shown to be required for seed dormancy in various monocot and dicot plant species. We have identified three <italic>B. napus</italic> genes with high homology to <italic>AtDOG1</italic>, which we named <italic>BnaA.DOG1.a</italic>, <italic>BnaC.DOG1.a</italic> and <italic>BnaC.DOG1.b</italic>. The transcripts of these genes could only be detected in seeds and showed a similar expression pattern during seed maturation as <italic>AtDOG1</italic>. In addition, the <italic>BnaDOG1</italic> genes showed enhanced transcript levels after the induction of secondary dormancy. These results suggest a role for <italic>DOG1</italic> in the induction of secondary dormancy in <italic>B. napus</italic>.</p> </abstract>