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Ph2 encodes the mismatch repair protein MSH7-3D that inhibits wheat homoeologous recombination
Ph2 encodes the mismatch repair protein MSH7-3D that inhibits wheat homoeologous recombination
Authors
Serra, H., Svačina, R., Baumann, U., Whitford, R., Sutton, T., Bartoš, J., Sourdille, P.
Year
2021
Journal
Nature Communications
Volume
12
Pages
803
DOI
10.1038/s41467-021-21127-1
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 wheatwild
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.