title: Early changes of gene activity in developing seedlings of Arabidopsis hybrids relative to parents may contribute to hybrid vigour.
abstract: Hybrid vigour (heterosis) has been used for decades in crop industries, especially in the production of maize and rice. Hybrid varieties usually exceed their parents in plant biomass and seed yield. But the molecular basis of hybrid vigour is not fully understood. In this project, we studied heterosis at early stages of seedling development in Arabidopsis hybrids derived from crossing Ler and C24 accessions. We found that early heterosis is associated with non-additive gene expression that resulted from earlier changes in gene expression in the hybrids relative to the parents. The non-additively expressed genes are involved in metabolic pathways, including photosynthesis, critical for plant growth. The early increased expression levels of genes involved in energy production in hybrids is associated with heterosis in the young seedlings that could be essential for biomass heterosis at later developmental stages of the plant.
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia.|University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Anyu
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3720-5726
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Greaves
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia.|University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Pei-Chuan
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia.|University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Dennis
authors.affiliation: Agriculture and Food, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Canberra, ACT, 2600, Australia.|University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
authors.forename: W James
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Peacock
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D006823:Hybrid Vigor / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D010788:Photosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D036226:Seedlings / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins
keywords: 
  Arabidopsis thaliana
  ; allelic gene expression; heterosis; photosynthesis; seedlings; transcriptome analysis