Tight genetic linkage of genes causing hybrid necrosis and pollinator isolation between young species.

The mechanisms of reproductive isolation that cause phenotypic diversification and eventually speciation are a major topic of evolutionary research. Hybrid necrosis is a post-zygotic isolation mechanism in which cell death develops in the absence of pathogens. It is often due to the incompatibility between proteins from two parents.

PERKing up our understanding of the proline-rich extensin-like receptor kinases, a forgotten plant receptor kinase family.

Proline-rich extensin-like receptor kinases (PERKs) are an important class of receptor-like kinases (RLKs) containing an extracellular proline-rich domain. While they are thought to be putative sensors of the cell wall integrity, there are very few reports on their biological functions in the plant, as compared with other RLKs. Several studies support a role for PERKs in plant growth and development, but their effect on the cell wall composition to regulate cell expansion is still lacking.

Natural variation at FLM splicing has pleiotropic effects modulating ecological strategies in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Investigating the evolution of complex phenotypes and the underlying molecular bases of their variation is critical to understand how organisms adapt to their environment. Applying classical quantitative genetics on a segregating population derived from a Can-0xCol-0 cross, we identify the MADS-box transcription factor FLOWERING LOCUS M (FLM) as a player of the phenotypic variation in plant growth and color. We show that allelic variation at FLM modulates plant growth strategy along the leaf economics spectrum, a trade-off between resource acquisition and resource conservation, observable across thousands of plant species.

Identification of transcription factors controlling floral morphology in wild Petunia species with contrasting pollination syndromes.

Adaptation to different pollinators is an important driver of speciation in the angiosperms. Genetic approaches such as QTL mapping have been successfully used to identify the underlying speciation genes. However, these methods are often limited by widespread suppression of recombination due to divergence between species.

The complex genetic architecture of shoot growth natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana.

One of the main outcomes of quantitative genetics approaches to natural variation is to reveal the genetic architecture underlying the phenotypic space. Complex genetic architectures are described as including numerous loci (or alleles) with small-effect and/or low-frequency in the populations, interactions with the genetic background, environment or age. Linkage or association mapping strategies will be more or less sensitive to this complexity, so that we still have an unclear picture of its extent.

New Strategies and Tools in Quantitative Genetics: How to Go from the Phenotype to the Genotype.

Quantitative genetics has a long history in plants: It has been used to study specific biological processes, identify the factors important for trait evolution, and breed new crop varieties. These classical approaches to quantitative trait locus mapping have naturally improved with technology. In this review, we show how quantitative genetics has evolved recently in plants and how new developments in phenotyping, population generation, sequencing, gene manipulation, and statistics are rejuvenating both the classical linkage mapping approaches (for example, through nested association mapping) as well as the more recently developed genome-wide association studies.

Arabidopsis CLAVATA1 and CLAVATA2 receptors contribute to Ralstonia solanacearum pathogenicity through a miR169-dependent pathway.

Bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum is one of the most destructive bacterial plant diseases. Although many molecular determinants involved in R. solanacearum adaptation to hosts and pathogenesis have been described, host components required for disease establishment remain poorly characterized.

The Brassicaceae-specific EWR1 gene provides resistance to vascular wilt pathogens.

Soil-borne vascular wilt diseases caused by Verticillium spp. are among the most destructive diseases worldwide in a wide range of plant species. The most effective means of controlling Verticillium wilt diseases is the use of genetic resistance.

Hrp mutant bacteria as biocontrol agents: toward a sustainable approach in the fight against plant pathogenic bacteria.

Sustainable agriculture necessitates development of environmentally safe methods to protect plants against pathogens. Among these methods, application of biocontrol agents has been efficiently used to minimize disease development. Here we review current understanding of mechanisms involved in biocontrol of the main Gram-phytopathogenic bacteria-induced diseases by plant inoculation with strains mutated in hrp (hypersensitive response and pathogenicity) genes.

Biological control of bacterial wilt in Arabidopsis thaliana involves abscissic acid signalling.

Means to control bacterial wilt caused by the phytopathogenic root bacteria Ralstonia solanacearum are limited. Mutants in a large cluster of genes (hrp) involved in the pathogenicity of R. solanacearum were successfully used in a previous study as endophytic biocontrol agents in challenge inoculation experiments on tomato.

The Arabidopsis thaliana DNA-binding protein AHL19 mediates verticillium wilt resistance.

Verticillium spp. are destructive soilborne fungal pathogens that cause vascular wilt diseases in a wide range of plant species. Verticillium wilts are particularly notorious, and genetic resistance in crop plants is the most favorable means of disease control.