A sulfotransferase gene BnSOT-like1 has a minor genetic effect on seed glucosinolate content in Brassica napus

The theory and associated selection methods of classical quantitative genetics are based on the multifactorial or polygene hypothesis.Major genes or quantitative trait loci(QTL)in modern quantitative genetics based on a“major gene plus polygenes”genetic system have been paid much attention in genetic studies.However,it remains unclear how the numerous minor genes act,although the polygene theory has sustained genetic improvement in plants and animals for more than a hundred years.In the present study,we identified a novel minor gene,BnSOT-like1(BnaA09g53490D),which is a sulfotransferase(SOT)gene catalyzing the formation of the core glucosinolate(GSL)structure in Brassica napus.This gene has been occasionally found during investigations of plant height-related genes,but has not been identified by QTL mapping because of its small phenotypic effects on GSL content.The overexpression of BnSOT-like1 up-regulated the expression of aliphatic GSL-associated genes,leading to a high seed aliphatic GSL content,and the overexpression of the allelic gene Bnsot-like1 did not increase seed GSL content.These findings suggest that the SOT gene has a marked effect on a quantitative trait from a reverse genetics standpoint,but a minor effect on the quantitative trait in its natural biological state.Because of the redundancy of GSL biosynthetic genes in the allotetraploid species B.napus,mutations of a single functional gene in the pathway will not result in significant phenotypic changes,and that the genes in biosynthetic pathways such as BnSOT-like1 in our study have minor effects and may be called polygenes in contrast to the reported three regulatory genes(BnHAG1s)which strongly affect GSL content in B.napus.The present study has shed light on a minor gene for a quantitative trait.

The Mitochondrial Genome of Raphanus sativus and Gene Evolution of Cruciferous Mitochondrial Types

To explore the mitochondrial genes of the Cruciferae family, the mitochondrial genome of Raphanus sativus （sat） was sequenced and annotated. The circular mitochondrial genome of sat is 239,723 bp and includes 33 protein-coding genes, three rRNA genes and 17 tRNA genes. The mitochondrial genome also contains a pair of large repeat sequences 5.9 kb in length, which may mediate genome reorga-nization into two sub-genomic circles, with predicted sizes of 124.8 kb and 115.0 kb, respectively. Furthermore, gene evolution of mitochondrial genomes within the Cruciferae family was analyzed using sat mitochondrial type （mitotype）, together with six other re-ported mitotypes. The cruciferous mitochondrial genomes have maintained almost the same set of functional genes. Compared with Cycas taitungensis （a representative gymnosperm）, the mitochondrial genomes of the Cruciferae have lost nine protein-coding genes and seven mitochondrial-like tRNA genes, but acquired six chloroplast-like tRNAs. Among the Cruciferae, to maintain the same set of genes that are necessary for mitochondrial function, the exons of the genes have changed at the lowest rates, as indicated by the numbers of single nucleotide polymorphisms. The open reading frames （ORFs） of unknown function in the cruciferous genomes are not conserved. Evolutionary events, such as mutations, genome reorganizations and sequence insertions or deletions （indets）, have resulted in the non- conserved ORFs in the cruciferous mitochondrial genomes, which is becoming significantly different among mitotypes. This work represents the first phylogenic explanation of the evolution of genes of known function in the Cruciferae family. It revealed significant variation in ORFs and the causes of such variation.