Ph2 encodes the mismatch repair protein MSH7-3D that inhibits wheat homoeologous recombination

Heïdi Serra, Radim Svačina, Ute Baumann, Ryan Whitford, Tim Sutton, Jan Bartoš, Pierre Sourdille

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

50 Scopus citations

Abstract

Meiotic recombination is a critical process for plant breeding, as it creates novel allele combinations that can be exploited for crop improvement. In wheat, a complex allohexaploid that has a diploid-like behaviour, meiotic recombination between homoeologous or alien chromosomes is suppressed through the action of several loci. Here, we report positional cloning of Pairing homoeologous 2 (Ph2) and functional validation of the wheat DNA mismatch repair protein MSH7-3D as a key inhibitor of homoeologous recombination, thus solving a half-century-old question. Similar to ph2 mutant phenotype, we show that mutating MSH7-3D induces a substantial increase in homoeologous recombination (up to 5.5 fold) in wheat-wild relative hybrids, which is also associated with a reduction in homologous recombination. These data reveal a role for MSH7-3D in meiotic stabilisation of allopolyploidy and provides an opportunity to improve wheat’s genetic diversity through alien gene introgression, a major bottleneck facing crop improvement.
Original languageEnglish (US)
JournalNature Communications
Volume12
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2021
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • General Chemistry
  • General Physics and Astronomy

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