title: Association of the molecular regulation of ear leaf senescence/stress response and photosynthesis/metabolism with heterosis at the reproductive stage in maize.
abstract: Maize exhibits a wide range of heterotic traits, but the molecular basis of heterosis at the reproductive stage has seldom been exploited. Leaf senescence is a degenerative process which affects crop yield and quality. In this study, we observed significantly delayed ear leaf senescence in the reciprocal hybrids of B73/Mo17 and Zheng58/Chang7-2 after silking, and all the hybrids displayed larger leaf areas and higher stems with higher yields. Our time-course transcriptome analysis identified 2,826 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between two parental lines (PP-DEGs) and 2,328 DEGs between parental lines and the hybrid (PH-DEGs) after silking. Notably, several senescence promoting genes (ZmNYE1, ZmORE1, ZmWRKY53 and ZmPIFs) exhibited underdominant expression patterns in the hybrid, whereas putative photosynthesis and carbon-fixation (ZmPEPC)-associated, starch biosynthetic (ZmAPS1, ZmAPL), gibberellin biosynthetic genes (ZmGA20OX, ZmGA3OX) expressed overdominantly. We also identified 86 transcription factors from PH-DEGs, some of which were known to regulate senescence, stress and metabolic processes. Collectively, we demonstrate a molecular association of the regulations of both ear leaf senescence/stress response and photosynthesis/metabolism with heterosis at the late developmental stage. This finding not only extends our understanding to the molecular basis of maize heterosis but also provides basic information for molecular breeding.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.|Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Xianjie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Yufeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Jiong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Lanqiu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: Maize Research Institute, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanning, Guangxi, China.
authors.forename: Weidong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.|Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.|Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China.
authors.forename: Benke
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kuai
mesh_terms: D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D063990:Gene Ontology; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D006823:Hybrid Vigor / Q000235:genetics*; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D010641:Phenotype; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D000069600:Plant Breeding / Q000379:methods; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics*; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics; D013997:Time Factors; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins