Postdoc Oak Ridge National Laboratory Knoxville, Tennessee
Body of Abstract: Organelle-to-nucleus DNA transfer is an ongoing process playing an important role in the evolution of eukaryotic life. Here, we performed Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) in a Populus trichocarpa diversity panel for variation in the efficiency of photosynthesis to identify genomic region. A nuclear orphan gene, PRL-1, that mediate dynamic modulation of non-photochemical quenching is identified yielding high quantum efficiency of CO2 assimilation and linear electron transport in both P. trichocarpa and transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. The increased photosynthesis efficiency resulted upto 88% in plant biomass gain in Populus and 50% more seed yield in Arabidopsis. This provides evidence for the importance of cytoplasmic organelle to nuclear DNA transfer in the continuing source of genetic variation with the potential to drive adaptation to local environments.