日本研究人员在新一期美国《国家科学院院刊》（PNAS）网络版上报告说，他们找到了能够使大麦的麸皮和麦粒彻底分离的基因，这一发现有望用于开发抗寒、耐干旱的食用大麦新品种。
大麦富含膳食纤维，在人们日益注重健康的现代社会受到青睐。但野生大麦麸皮和麦粒之间存在脂质，麸皮难以脱去，几乎不能食用。食用大麦最早于距今约8000年前在美索不达米亚地区投入种植，科学家认为那是因为野生大麦发生基因突变，产生了麸皮和麦粒间没有脂质、两者能够彻底分离的新品种。
日本香川大学植物遗传学教授武田真分析比较了不同品种大麦的遗传信息后发现，食用大麦ERF转录因子的编码基因不发挥作用，所以麸皮和麦粒能够彻底分离。武田真认为，借助这一发现，有可能把野生大麦改造成适合人们食用的新品种，同时保留野生大麦品种抗寒、耐干旱的优势。（来源：新华网 钱铮）
生物谷推荐原始出处 ：
（PNAS），doi：10.1073/pnas.0711034105，Shin Taketa，Kazuyoshi Takeda
Barley grain with adhering hulls is controlled by an ERF family transcription factor gene regulating a lipid biosynthesis pathway
Shin Taketa, Satoko Amano, Yasuhiro Tsujino, Tomohiko Sato, Daisuke Saisho, Katsuyuki Kakeda, Mika Nomura, Toshisada Suzuki, Takashi Matsumoto, Kazuhiro Sato, Hiroyuki Kanamori, Shinji Kawasaki, and Kazuyoshi Takeda
Abstract
In contrast to other cereals, typical barley cultivars have caryopses with adhering hulls at maturity, known as covered (hulled) barley. However, a few barley cultivars are a free-threshing variant called naked (hulless) barley. The covered/naked caryopsis is controlled by a single locus (nud) on chromosome arm 7HL. On the basis of positional cloning, we concluded that an ethylene response factor (ERF) family transcription factor gene controls the covered/naked caryopsis phenotype. This conclusion was validated by (i) fixation of the 17-kb deletion harboring the ERF gene among all 100 naked cultivars studied; (ii) two x-ray-induced nud alleles with a DNA lesion at a different site, each affecting the putative functional motif; and (iii) gene expression strictly localized to the testa. Available results indicate the monophyletic origin of naked barley. The Nud gene has homology to the Arabidopsis WIN1/SHN1 transcription factor gene, whose deduced function is control of a lipid biosynthesis pathway. Staining with a lipophilic dye (Sudan black B) detected a lipid layer on the pericarp epidermis only in covered barley. We infer that, in covered barley, the contact of the caryopsis surface, overlaid with lipids to the inner side of the hull, generates organ adhesion.
