Identification of YAB11-NGAL1 controlling leaf serrations through enhanced genome-wide association studies of Populus

Abstract

Leaf margins are complex plant morphological features and contribute to the diversity of leaf shapes which effect on plant structure, yield and adaptation. Although several regulators of leaf margins have been identified, the genetic basis of natural variation therein has not been fully elucidated. We first profiled two distinct types (serration and smooth) of leaf morphology using the persistent homology mathematical framework (PHMF) in poplar. Combined genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and expression quantitative trait nucleotide (eQTN) mapping to create a module of leaf morphology controlling using data from Populus tomentosa and P. simonii association population, respectively. Natural variation of leaf margins is associated with transcript abundances of YABBY11 ( YAB11 ) in poplar. In P. tomentosa , PtoYAB11 carries premature stop codon ( PtoYAB11 PSC ) resulting in lost its positive regulation in PtoNGAL-1 , PtoRBCL , PtoATPA , PtoATPE , and PtoPSBB . Overexpression of PtoYAB11 PSC serrated leaf margin, enlarged leaves, promoted photosynthesis and increased biomass. Overexpression of PsiYAB11 in P. tomentosa could rescue leaf margin serration and increase stomatal density and light damage repair ability. In poplar , YAB11 - NGAL1 is sensitive to environmental conditions and play positive regulator of leaf margin serration. It might be important regulator which bridge environment signaling to leaf morphological plasticity.

Plant phenotyping relevance

葉形態（鋸歯・平滑）をpersistent homology数学フレームワークでプロファイリングしており、葉の形態形質を計算的に抽出する手法が研究のGWAS解析の基盤として明示されています。

Code and data availability

The paper's phenotyping outputs (PHMF-derived leaf traits, TMLP data, GWAS/eQTN results) are referenced only as Supplemental Datasets S1–S8 with no public deposit or URL. The one explicitly described analysis asset, a Python script for generating binary leaf images, is stated to be 'Available on request' rather than公开发

No evidence-backed public reproduction asset is currently recorded.