Comparison of maize (Zea mays L.) F1-hybrid and parental inbred line primary root transcriptomes suggests organ-specific patterns of nonadditive gene expression and conserved expression trends.

ABSTRACT: The phenomenon of heterosis describes the increased agronomic performance of heterozygous F(1) plants compared to their homozygous parental inbred plants. Heterosis is manifested during the early stages of root development in maize. The goal of this study was to identify nonadditive gene expression in primary roots of maize hybrids compared to the average expression levels of their parental inbred lines. To achieve this goal a two-step strategy was used. First, a microarray preselection of nonadditively expressed candidate genes was performed. Subsequently, gene expression levels in a subset of genes were determined via high-throughput quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR experiments. Initial microarray experiments identified 1941 distinct microarray features that displayed nonadditive gene ex

SUBMITTER: Hoecker N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2475732 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature