Life Sciences Commons^™

Substantial Contribution Of Genetic Variation In The Expression Of Transcription Factors To Phenotypic Variation Revealed By Erd-Gwas, Hung-Ying Lin, Qiang Liu, Xiao Li, Jinliang Yang, Sanzhen Liu, Yinlian Huang, Michael J. Scanlon, Dan Nettleton, Patrick S. Schnable

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: There are significant limitations in existing methods for the genome-wide identification of genes whose expression patterns affect traits.

Results: The transcriptomes of five tissues from 27 genetically diverse maize inbred lines were deeply sequenced to identify genes exhibiting high and low levels of expression variation across tissues or genotypes. Transcription factors are enriched among genes with the most variation in expression across tissues, as well as among genes with higher-than-median levels of variation in expression across genotypes. In contrast, transcription factors are depleted among genes whose expression is either highly stable or highly variable across genotypes. We developed a …

Fruit Weight Is Controlled By Cell Size Regulator Encoding A Novel Protein That Is Expressed In Maturing Tomato Fruits, Qi Mu, Zejun Huang, Manohar Chakrabarti, Eudald Illa-Berenguer, Xiaoxi Liu, Yanping Wang, Alexis Ramos, Esther Van Der Knaap

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Increases in fruit weight of cultivated vegetables and fruits accompanied the domestication of these crops. Here we report on the positional cloning of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) controlling fruit weight in tomato. The derived allele of Cell Size Regulator (CSR-D) increases fruit weight predominantly through enlargement of the pericarp areas. The expanded pericarp tissues result from increased mesocarp cell size and not from increased number of cell layers. The effect of CSR on fruit weight and cell size is found across different genetic backgrounds implying a consistent impact of the locus on the trait. In fruits, CSR …

Effect Assessment Of Tio2 Nanoparticles Exposure On Medicago By Monitoring Morphophysiology, Charles Towey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In recent years titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂NPs) have been ingredients in everything from paints to cosmetics, and even in some kinds of food. This growth in use has resulted in a substantial increase in the amount of titanium released into the environment, which could have detrimental effects on nearby plant and animal life. Currently, the number of studies conducted on the effects of TiO₂NPs is quite small, especially when it comes to edible crops. Because of this lack of research data, this study has been designed to assess the effect of TiO₂ NPs exposure on …

A Novel Phytoene Synthase Paralog From Halophytic Salicorniaconfers Salinity Tolerance In Plants, Nazia Rehman, Muhammad Ramzan Khan, Ghulam Muhammad Ali

Turkish Journal of Botany

Salicornia seems to be a suitable euhalophyte for the study of salt stress resilience mechanism and exploitation of salinity-tolerant genes for crop yield improvement. In this study, we cloned a novel SePSY1 gene from an extremely salt-tolerant glycophyte, Salicornia europaea. The sequence analysis revealed that the newly isolated gene is a paralog of PSY, suggesting a gene duplication event in Salicornia. The newly isolated gene encodes a protein of 419 amino acids. The C-terminus containing a Trans-IPPS-H domain with catalytic and binding regions exhibits considerable conservation in various species, while the N-terminus remained divergent. The structural analysis suggested a catalytic …

Molecular Characterization Of Tocopherol Biosynthesisgenes From Olea Europaea (L.) Cv. Ayvalık, Fati̇h Sezer, Kemal Meli̇k Taşkin

Turkish Journal of Botany

Vitamin E is a group of compounds that includes metabolites known as tocopherols, which have high antioxidant activities. Tocopherols are synthesized in plants, and their beneficial effects on human health have been reported for diseases such as coronary heart disease and cancer. Here we report the full-length transcripts encoding vitamin E biosynthetic enzymes from fruit mesocarp tissues using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) method for the first time in olives. We characterized the structure of the genes 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (PDS1), homogentisate phytyltransferase 1 (HPT1), vitamin E defective 3 (VTE3), tocopherol cyclase (VTE1), and gamma tocopherol methyltransferase (GTMT), which …