title: The dicer-like1 homolog fuzzy tassel is required for the regulation of meristem determinacy in the inflorescence and vegetative growth in maize.
abstract: Plant architecture is determined by meristems that initiate leaves during vegetative development and flowers during reproductive development. Maize (Zea mays) inflorescences are patterned by a series of branching events, culminating in floral meristems that produce sexual organs. The maize fuzzy tassel (fzt) mutant has striking inflorescence defects with indeterminate meristems, fasciation, and alterations in sex determination. fzt plants have dramatically reduced plant height and shorter, narrower leaves with leaf polarity and phase change defects. We positionally cloned fzt and discovered that it contains a mutation in a dicer-like1 homolog, a key enzyme required for microRNA (miRNA) biogenesis. miRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that reduce target mRNA levels and are key regulators of plant development and physiology. Small RNA sequencing analysis showed that most miRNAs are moderately reduced in fzt plants and a few miRNAs are dramatically reduced. Some aspects of the fzt phenotype can be explained by reduced levels of known miRNAs, including miRNAs that influence meristem determinacy, phase change, and leaf polarity. miRNAs responsible for other aspects of the fzt phenotype are unknown and likely to be those miRNAs most severely reduced in fzt mutants. The fzt mutation provides a tool to link specific miRNAs and targets to discrete phenotypes and developmental roles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858 thompsonb@ecu.edu.
authors.forename: Beth E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Basham
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19714 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hammond
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858.
authors.forename: Queying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19714 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711.
authors.forename: Atul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakrana
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711.
authors.forename: Tzuu-Fen
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711.
authors.forename: Stacey A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.affiliation: Pioneer, A Dupont Company, Johnston, Iowa 50131.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meeley
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19711.
authors.forename: Blake C
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3436-6097
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: Plant Gene Expression Center and University of California-Berkeley, Albany, California 94710.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hake
mesh_terms: D035264:Flowers / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018519:Meristem / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000502:physiology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D003313:Zea mays / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D010940:Plant Proteins