Regulatory modules controlling maize inflorescence architecture
- Andrea L Eveland1,
- Alexander Goldshmidt1,
- Michael Pautler1,
- Kengo Morohashi2,
- Christophe Liseron-Monfils1,
- Michael W Lewis3,
- Sunita Kumari1,
- Susumu Hiraga4,
- Fang Yang1,
- Erica Unger-Wallace5,
- Andrew Olson1,
- Sarah Hake3,
- Erik Vollbrecht5,
- Erich Grotewold2,
- Doreen Ware6 and
- David Jackson1,7
- 1 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory;
- 2 The Ohio State University;
- 3 Plant Gene Expression Center, USDA-ARS; University of California at Berkeley;
- 4 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; NARO Institute of Crop Science;
- 5 Iowa State University;
- 6 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory; USDA-ARS
- ↵* Corresponding author; email: jacksond{at}cshl.edu
Abstract
Genetic control of branching is a primary determinant of yield, regulating seed number and harvesting ability, yet little is known about the molecular networks that shape grain-bearing inflorescences of cereal crops. Here, we used the maize (Zea mays) inflorescence to investigate gene networks that modulate determinacy, specifically the decision to allow branch growth. We characterized developmental transitions by associating spatiotemporal expression profiles with morphological changes resulting from genetic perturbations that disrupt steps in a pathway controlling branching. Developmental dynamics of genes targeted in vivo by the transcription factor RAMOSA1, a key regulator of determinacy, revealed potential mechanisms for repressing branches in distinct stem cell populations, including interactions with KNOTTED1, a master regulator of stem cell maintenance. Our results uncover discrete developmental modules that function in determining grass-specific morphology and provide a basis for targeted crop improvement and translation to other cereal crops with comparable inflorescence architectures.
- Received September 19, 2013.
- Accepted November 27, 2013.
- Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
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