Cloning and System Analysis of Genes Controlling Grain Yield Using Ear Leaf in Maize
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Date
2016-05-09
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Abstract
Maize is a leading food, feed and bioenergy crop in the U.S. and the world, while grain yield is the most important to all cereals, including maize, wheat, rice and sorghum. Since genes are the keys to comprehensively understand and effectively manipulate traits of agronomic importance, over 1,500 genes controlling grain yield have been recently cloned in maize and rice, of which over 98% were cloned from maize developing ear shoot in our laboratory. These genes have allowed deciphering of the molecular mechanisms underlying quantitative genetics and grain yield, and development of a gene-based breeding system in maize, but little is known about how they regulate grain yield spatially in different plant tissues. Here we report cloning, validation and systems analysis of 703 genes controlling maize grain yield (ZmGY_el) from ear leaf, another plant part significantly contributing to grain yield. We show that each ZmGY_el gene contributes to grain yield by 9.0% - 37.1% and 63.0% of them led to increased grain yield and 37.0% resulted in decreased grain yield, when turned on or up-regulated in ear leaf. Comparative analysis reveals that different sets of genes contribute to grain yield in different tissues, even though some of the genes contribute to grain yield in both tissues. Furthermore, we have further formulated the molecular mechanisms of grain yield using the genes cloned from ear leaf. These results have provided new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying grain yield, thus providing new knowledge and toolkits for effective manipulation of grain yield in maize and other cereal crops.
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Zea mays, grain yield, Ear leaf, gene cloning, molecular mechanism