Abstract
In this report, the Wx-A1 mutations carried by a Triticum dicoccoides line from Israel and a Triticum dicoccum line from Yugoslavia are characterized. A single nucleotide insertion in the T. dicoccoides null allele and a single nucleotide deletion in the T. dicoccum null allele each cause frameshift mutations that induce premature termination codons more than 55 nucleotides upstream of the last exon-exon junction. In both mutants, Wx-A1 transcripts were detectable in 10 day post-anthesis endosperm by relative RT-PCR. However, transcript levels of the T. dicoccoides and T. dicoccum null alleles were reduced to approximately 6.5 and 1.5% of wild-type, respectively. Therefore, the lack of Wx-A1 protein in the mutants appears to be largely due to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay. The two mutations described here arose independently, and are not related to either of the Wx-A1 mutations identified in common wheat.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Drs. Shoji Ohta and Makoto Yamamori, and NIAS for providing emmer wheat seeds. We also thank Dr. Patricia Vrinten for helpful discussions and useful editorial comments on the manuscript. This study was supported by a grant from the Japan Science and Technology Corporation.
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Communicated by C. Möllers
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Saito, M., Nakamura, T. Two point mutations identified in emmer wheat generate null Wx-A1 alleles. Theor Appl Genet 110, 276–282 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-004-1830-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-004-1830-6