A Mutator transposon insertion is associated with ectopic expression of a tandemly repeated multicopy Myb gene pericarp color1 of maize.

ABSTRACT: The molecular basis of tissue-specific pigmentation of maize carrying a tandemly repeated multicopy allele of pericarp color1 (p1) was examined using Mutator (Mu) transposon-mediated mutagenesis. The P1-wr allele conditions a white or colorless pericarp and a red cob glumes phenotype. However, a Mu-insertion allele, designated as P1-wr-mum6, displayed an altered phenotype that was first noted as occasional red stripes on pericarp tissue. This gain-of-pericarp-pigmentation phenotype was heritable, yielding families that displayed variable penetrance and expressivity. In one fully penetrant family, deep red pericarp pigmentation was observed. Several reports on Mu suppressible alleles have shown that Mu transposons can affect gene expression by mechanisms that depend on transposase activity.

SUBMITTER: Robbins ML 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2323782 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature