PMID:20012169

Citation	Hong, SY, Lee, S, Seo, PJ, Yang, MS and Park, CM (2010) Identification and molecular characterization of a Brachypodium distachyon GIGANTEA gene: functional conservation in monocot and dicot plants. Plant Mol. Biol. 72:485-97
Abstract	Developmental phase change and flowering transition are emerging as potential targets for biomass agriculture in recent years. The GIGANTEA (GI) gene is one of the central regulators that direct flowering promotion and phase transition. In this work, we isolated a GI gene orthologue from the small annual grass Brachypodium distachyon inbred line Bd21 (Brachypodium), which is perceived as a potential model monocot for studies on bioenergy grass species. A partial GI gene sequence was identified from a Brachypodium expressed sequence tag library, and a full-size gene (BdGI) was amplified from a Brachypodium cDNA library using specific primer sets designed through analysis of monocot GI gene sequences. The BdGI gene was up-regulated by light and cold. A circadian rhythm set by light-dark transition also regulated the expression of the BdGI gene. The deduced amino acid sequence of the BdGI protein shares higher than 70% of sequence identity with the GI proteins in monocots and Arabidopsis. In addition, the BdGI protein is constitutively targeted to the nucleus and physically interacts with the ZEITLUPE (ZTL) and CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC 1 (COP1) proteins, like the Arabidopsis GI protein. Interestingly, heterologous expression of the BdGI gene in a GI-deficient Arabidopsis mutant rescued efficiently the late flowering phenotype. Together, our data indicate that the role of the GI gene in flowering induction is conserved in Arabidopsis and Brachypodium. It is envisioned that the GI genes of bioenergy grasses as well as Brachypodium could be manipulated to improve biomass by engineering developmental timing of phase transitions.
Links	PubMed Online version:10.1007/s11103-009-9586-7
Keywords	Arabidopsis/genetics; Arabidopsis/growth & development; Arabidopsis Proteins/genetics; Cell Nucleus/metabolism; Circadian Rhythm/genetics; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes, Plant; Genetic Complementation Test; Phylogeny; Plant Proteins/genetics; Plant Proteins/physiology; Plants, Genetically Modified; Poaceae/genetics; Poaceae/growth & development; Poaceae/physiology; Species Specificity; Two-Hybrid System Techniques
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Annotations

Gene product	Qualifier	GO Term	Evidence Code	with/from	Aspect	Extension	Notes	Status
BRADI:F1DRI2		GO:0005634: nucleus	ECO:0000314:		C		Figure 2	complete CACAO 8195
BRADI:F1DRI2	part_of	GO:0005634: nucleus	ECO:0000314: direct assay evidence used in manual assertion		C		Seeded From UniProt	complete
BRADI:I1HCQ1		GO:0048586: regulation of long-day photoperiodism, flowering	ECO:0000316:	UniProtKB:Q9SQI2	P		As seen in figure 6, Arabidopsis gi-2 mutants transformed with BdGI flowered earlier than both the control plants and the un-transformed mutants.	complete CACAO 7610
BRADI:I1HCQ1	involved_in	GO:0048586: regulation of long-day photoperiodism, flowering	ECO:0000316: genetic interaction evidence used in manual assertion	UniProtKB:Q9SQI2	P		Seeded From UniProt	complete

References

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