Gene Expression in Parthenogenic Maize Proembryos

Angiosperm plants reproduce both sexually and asexually (by apomixis). In apomictic plants, the embryo and endosperm develop without fertilization. Modern maize seems to have a broken apomixis-triggering mechanism, which still works in and in -maize hybrids. For the first time, maize lines character...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Plants (Basel) 2021-05, Vol.10 (5), p.964
Main Authors: Volokhina, Irina, Gusev, Yury, Moiseeva, Yelizaveta, Gutorova, Olga, Fadeev, Vladimir, Chumakov, Mikhail
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Apomixis
Cell division
Chromatin
chromatin-modifying enzymes
Corn
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA methylation
Embryos
Endosperm
Fertilization
fertilization-independent embryo and endosperm development
Gene expression
Genes
gynogenesis
Hybrids
Microscopy
Parthenogenesis
Plant reproduction
Seeds
Sperm
Tripsacum
Zea mays
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Summary:Angiosperm plants reproduce both sexually and asexually (by apomixis). In apomictic plants, the embryo and endosperm develop without fertilization. Modern maize seems to have a broken apomixis-triggering mechanism, which still works in and in -maize hybrids. For the first time, maize lines characterized by pronounced and inheritable high-frequency maternal parthenogenesis were generated 40 years ago, but there are no data on gene expression in parthenogenic maize proembryos. Here we examined for the first time gene expression in parthenogenic proembryos isolated from unpollinated embryo sacs (ESs) of a parthenogenic maize line (AT-4). The DNA-methylation genes ( , ) and the genes coding for the chromatin-modifying enzymes ( , , ) were expressed much higher in parthenogenic proembryos than in unpollinated ESs. The expression of the fertilization-independent endosperm ( ) genes was found for the first time in parthenogenic proembryos and unpollinated ESs. In parthenogenic proembryos, the gene was expressed up to two times higher than it was expressed in unpollinated ESs.
ISSN:2223-7747
2223-7747
DOI:10.3390/plants10050964