Maize orthologs of rice GS5 and their trans-regulator are associated with kernel development.
Genome information from model species such as rice can assist in the cloning of genes in a complex genome, such as maize. Here, we identified a maize ortholog of rice GS5 that contributes to kernel development in maize. The genome-wide association analysis of the expression levels of ZmGS5, and 15 of its 26 paralogs, identified a trans-regulator on chromosome 7, which was a BAK1-like gene. This gene that we named as ZmBAK1-7 could regulate the expression of ZmGS5 and three of the paralogs. Candidate-gene association analyses revealed that these five genes were associated with maize kernel development-related traits. Linkage analyses also detected that ZmGS5 and ZmBAK1-7 co-localized with mapped QTLs. A transgenic analysis of ZmGS5 in Arabidopsis thaliana L. showed a significant increase in seed weight and cell number, suggesting that ZmGS5 may have a conserved function among different plant species that affects seed development.
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Jie
J
Liu
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Min
M
Deng
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Huan
H
Guo
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Sharif
S
Raihan
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Jingyun
J
Luo
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Yuancheng
Y
Xu
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Xiaofei
X
Dong
National Key Laboratory of Crop Genetic Improvement, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China.
Jianbing
J
Yan
D017360:Arabidopsis; D005638:Fruit / Q000254:growth & development*; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D012275:Oryza / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development
D010940:Plant Proteins
Association analysis; ZmBAK1-7; ZmGS5; kernel development; maize