Title: The genomic landscape of molecular responses to natural drought stress in Panicum hallii

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
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  1. HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL (United States); The Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Genome Sequencing Center, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
  2. HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL (United States)
  3. Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, MI (United States)
  4. The Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
  5. USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States)
  6. USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States); Zymergen Inc, Emeryville, CA (United States)
  7. The Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States); Kazan Federal University, Kazan (Russia)
  8. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
  9. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  10. HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, Huntsville, AL (United States); USDOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI), Walnut Creek, CA (United States)

Environmental stress is a major driver of ecological community dynamics and agricultural productivity. This is especially true for soil water availability, because drought is the greatest abiotic inhibitor of worldwide crop yields. Here, we test the genetic basis of drought responses in the genetic model for C4 perennial grasses, Panicum hallii, through population genomics, field-scale gene-expression (eQTL) analysis, and comparison of two complete genomes. While gene expression networks are dominated by local cis-regulatory elements, we observe three genomic hotspots of unlinked trans-regulatory loci. These regulatory hubs are four times more drought responsive than the genome-wide average. Additionally, cis- and trans-regulatory networks are more likely to have opposing effects than expected under neutral evolution, supporting a strong influence of compensatory evolution and stabilizing selection. These results implicate trans-regulatory evolution as a driver of drought responses and demonstrate the potential for crop improvement in drought-prone regions through modification of gene regulatory networks.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States). Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; SC0018409
OSTI ID:
1506428
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 9; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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