Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley

Morten E. Jørgensen; Dominique Vequaud; Yucheng Wang; Christian B. Andersen; Micha Bayer; Amanda Box; Katarzyna B. Braune; Yuanyang Cai; Fahu Chen; Jose A. Cuesta-Seijo; Haoran Dong; Geoffrey B. Fincher; Zoran Gojkovic; Zihao Huang; Benjamin Jaegle; Sandip M. Kale; Flavia Krsticevic; Pierre Marie Le Roux; Antoine Lozier; Qiongxian Lu; Martin Mascher; Emiko Murozuka; Shingo Nakamura; Martin Ude Simmelsgaard; Pai R. Pedas; Pierre A. Pin; Dagmara Podzimska-Sroka; Kazuhiro Sato; Manuel Spannagl; Magnus W. Rasmussen; Joanne Russell; Miriam Schreiber; Hanne C. Thomsen; Nina W. Thomsen; Sophia Tulloch; Cynthia Voss; Birgitte Skadhauge; Nils Stein; Eske Willerslev; Robbie Waugh; Christoph Dockter

doi:10.1126/science.adx2022

Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley

Morten E. Jørgensen (Lead / Corresponding author)
, Dominique Vequaud
, Yucheng Wang
, Christian B. Andersen
, Micha Bayer
, Amanda Box
, Katarzyna B. Braune
, Yuanyang Cai
, Fahu Chen
, Jose A. Cuesta-Seijo
, Haoran Dong
, Geoffrey B. Fincher
, Zoran Gojkovic
, Zihao Huang
, Benjamin Jaegle
, Sandip M. Kale
, Flavia Krsticevic
, Pierre Marie Le Roux
, Antoine Lozier
, Qiongxian Lu

Martin Mascher, Emiko Murozuka, Shingo Nakamura, Martin Ude Simmelsgaard, Pai R. Pedas, Pierre A. Pin, Dagmara Podzimska-Sroka, Kazuhiro Sato, Manuel Spannagl, Magnus W. Rasmussen, Joanne Russell, Miriam Schreiber, Hanne C. Thomsen, Nina W. Thomsen, Sophia Tulloch, Cynthia Voss, Birgitte Skadhauge, Nils Stein (Lead / Corresponding author), Eske Willerslev (Lead / Corresponding author), Robbie Waugh (Lead / Corresponding author), Christoph Dockter (Lead / Corresponding author)

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

36 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Anthropogenic selection of grain traits such as dormancy has shaped the developmental trajectories of crops. In cereals, shortening dormancy provides rapid and even postharvest germination, but increases the risk of weather-induced preharvest sprouting, with yearly harvest losses beyond 1 billion dollars. Our understanding of how, why, when, and where cereal dormancy diversification arose is fragmentary. Here, we show in the founder crop barley (Hordeum vulgare) that dormancy is primarily regulated through a mosaic of locus haplotypes comprising copy number variation and inherent kinase activity of Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3 (MKK3). We provide evidence supporting the historical selection of specific MKK3 haplotypes that shaped dormancy levels according to changing climatic pressures and outline a genetic framework for breeders to balance grain dormancy and preharvest sprouting avoidance.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	90-95
Number of pages	6
Journal	Science
Volume	391
Issue number	6780
Early online date	6 Nov 2025
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx2022
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2026

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General

Access to Document

10.1126/science.adx2022

Author Accepted ManuscriptAccepted author manuscript, 1 MB

Cite this

Jørgensen, M. E., Vequaud, D., Wang, Y., Andersen, C. B., Bayer, M., Box, A., Braune, K. B., Cai, Y., Chen, F., Cuesta-Seijo, J. A., Dong, H., Fincher, G. B., Gojkovic, Z., Huang, Z., Jaegle, B., Kale, S. M., Krsticevic, F., Le Roux, P. M., Lozier, A., ... Dockter, C. (2026). Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley. Science, 391(6780), 90-95. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx2022

@article{a4ff148c8b414d1cb378ac3fe63115d9,

title = "Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley",

abstract = "Anthropogenic selection of grain traits such as dormancy has shaped the developmental trajectories of crops. In cereals, shortening dormancy provides rapid and even postharvest germination, but increases the risk of weather-induced preharvest sprouting, with yearly harvest losses beyond 1 billion dollars. Our understanding of how, why, when, and where cereal dormancy diversification arose is fragmentary. Here, we show in the founder crop barley (Hordeum vulgare) that dormancy is primarily regulated through a mosaic of locus haplotypes comprising copy number variation and inherent kinase activity of Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3 (MKK3). We provide evidence supporting the historical selection of specific MKK3 haplotypes that shaped dormancy levels according to changing climatic pressures and outline a genetic framework for breeders to balance grain dormancy and preharvest sprouting avoidance.",

author = "J{\o}rgensen, \{Morten E.\} and Dominique Vequaud and Yucheng Wang and Andersen, \{Christian B.\} and Micha Bayer and Amanda Box and Braune, \{Katarzyna B.\} and Yuanyang Cai and Fahu Chen and Cuesta-Seijo, \{Jose A.\} and Haoran Dong and Fincher, \{Geoffrey B.\} and Zoran Gojkovic and Zihao Huang and Benjamin Jaegle and Kale, \{Sandip M.\} and Flavia Krsticevic and \{Le Roux\}, \{Pierre Marie\} and Antoine Lozier and Qiongxian Lu and Martin Mascher and Emiko Murozuka and Shingo Nakamura and Simmelsgaard, \{Martin Ude\} and Pedas, \{Pai R.\} and Pin, \{Pierre A.\} and Dagmara Podzimska-Sroka and Kazuhiro Sato and Manuel Spannagl and Rasmussen, \{Magnus W.\} and Joanne Russell and Miriam Schreiber and Thomsen, \{Hanne C.\} and Thomsen, \{Nina W.\} and Sophia Tulloch and Cynthia Voss and Birgitte Skadhauge and Nils Stein and Eske Willerslev and Robbie Waugh and Christoph Dockter",

note = "Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 the authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science.",

year = "2026",

month = jan,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1126/science.adx2022",

language = "English",

volume = "391",

pages = "90--95",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6780",

}

Jørgensen, ME, Vequaud, D, Wang, Y, Andersen, CB, Bayer, M, Box, A, Braune, KB, Cai, Y, Chen, F, Cuesta-Seijo, JA, Dong, H, Fincher, GB, Gojkovic, Z, Huang, Z, Jaegle, B, Kale, SM, Krsticevic, F, Le Roux, PM, Lozier, A, Lu, Q, Mascher, M, Murozuka, E, Nakamura, S, Simmelsgaard, MU, Pedas, PR, Pin, PA, Podzimska-Sroka, D, Sato, K, Spannagl, M, Rasmussen, MW, Russell, J, Schreiber, M, Thomsen, HC, Thomsen, NW, Tulloch, S, Voss, C, Skadhauge, B, Stein, N, Willerslev, E, Waugh, R & Dockter, C 2026, 'Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley', Science, vol. 391, no. 6780, pp. 90-95. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx2022

TY - JOUR

T1 - Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley

AU - Jørgensen, Morten E.

AU - Vequaud, Dominique

AU - Wang, Yucheng

AU - Andersen, Christian B.

AU - Bayer, Micha

AU - Box, Amanda

AU - Braune, Katarzyna B.

AU - Cai, Yuanyang

AU - Chen, Fahu

AU - Cuesta-Seijo, Jose A.

AU - Dong, Haoran

AU - Fincher, Geoffrey B.

AU - Gojkovic, Zoran

AU - Huang, Zihao

AU - Jaegle, Benjamin

AU - Kale, Sandip M.

AU - Krsticevic, Flavia

AU - Le Roux, Pierre Marie

AU - Lozier, Antoine

AU - Lu, Qiongxian

AU - Mascher, Martin

AU - Murozuka, Emiko

AU - Nakamura, Shingo

AU - Simmelsgaard, Martin Ude

AU - Pedas, Pai R.

AU - Pin, Pierre A.

AU - Podzimska-Sroka, Dagmara

AU - Sato, Kazuhiro

AU - Spannagl, Manuel

AU - Rasmussen, Magnus W.

AU - Russell, Joanne

AU - Schreiber, Miriam

AU - Thomsen, Hanne C.

AU - Thomsen, Nina W.

AU - Tulloch, Sophia

AU - Voss, Cynthia

AU - Skadhauge, Birgitte

AU - Stein, Nils

AU - Willerslev, Eske

AU - Waugh, Robbie

AU - Dockter, Christoph

PY - 2026/1/1

Y1 - 2026/1/1

N2 - Anthropogenic selection of grain traits such as dormancy has shaped the developmental trajectories of crops. In cereals, shortening dormancy provides rapid and even postharvest germination, but increases the risk of weather-induced preharvest sprouting, with yearly harvest losses beyond 1 billion dollars. Our understanding of how, why, when, and where cereal dormancy diversification arose is fragmentary. Here, we show in the founder crop barley (Hordeum vulgare) that dormancy is primarily regulated through a mosaic of locus haplotypes comprising copy number variation and inherent kinase activity of Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3 (MKK3). We provide evidence supporting the historical selection of specific MKK3 haplotypes that shaped dormancy levels according to changing climatic pressures and outline a genetic framework for breeders to balance grain dormancy and preharvest sprouting avoidance.

AB - Anthropogenic selection of grain traits such as dormancy has shaped the developmental trajectories of crops. In cereals, shortening dormancy provides rapid and even postharvest germination, but increases the risk of weather-induced preharvest sprouting, with yearly harvest losses beyond 1 billion dollars. Our understanding of how, why, when, and where cereal dormancy diversification arose is fragmentary. Here, we show in the founder crop barley (Hordeum vulgare) that dormancy is primarily regulated through a mosaic of locus haplotypes comprising copy number variation and inherent kinase activity of Mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 3 (MKK3). We provide evidence supporting the historical selection of specific MKK3 haplotypes that shaped dormancy levels according to changing climatic pressures and outline a genetic framework for breeders to balance grain dormancy and preharvest sprouting avoidance.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105026621280

UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.11.664137v1.article-info

U2 - 10.1126/science.adx2022

DO - 10.1126/science.adx2022

M3 - Article

C2 - 41196947

AN - SCOPUS:105026621280

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 391

SP - 90

EP - 95

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6780

ER -

Postdomestication selection of MKK3 shaped seed dormancy and end-use traits in barley

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this