Project description:Transcriptional profiling of sweet corn response to plant density (crowding stress). Determine the extent to which hybrid and environment influences crowding stress response and identify crowding stress transcriptional response in sweet corn
Project description:This study investigates the transcriptional response of normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) to treatment with hydrolyzed corn starch containing maltotetraose. NHEKs were treated with 2.0% hydrolyzed corn starch for 24 h, and total RNA was subjected to gene expression profiling using a Clariom S human array.
Project description:Approximately 500 surface sterilized seeds of Arabidopsis seeds (ecotype: Col-0) were sterilely sown on filter disks overlaying solid ½ MS media 1% sucrose, stratified at 4C for 48 h and grown in darkness at 25C for 4 d. Seedlings were gently submerged by application to the plates of the different auxin solutions (made in ethanol carrier; 0.1% final concentration) and at the indicated times (20 min, 40 min, 60 min), the seedlings were lifted from the plate en mass and flash frozen in liquid nitrogen. Keywords: time-course
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of sweet corn plant density (crowding stress) tolerance influencing yield. Tolerance to crowding stress has played a crucial role in improving agronomic productivity in field corn; however, commercial sweet corn hybrids vary greatly in crowding stress tolerance. The experiment was conducted to 1) explore transcriptional changes among sweet corn hybrids with differential yield under crowding stress, 2) identify relationships between phenotypic responses and gene expression patterns, and 3) identify groups of genes associated with yield and crowding stress tolerance. Under conditions of crowding stress, three high-yielding and three low-yielding sweet corn hybrids were grouped for transcriptional and phenotypic analyses. Transcriptional analyses identified from 372 to 859 common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) for each hybrid. Large gene expression pattern variation among hybrids and only 26 common DEGs across all hybrid comparisons were identified, suggesting each hybrid has a unique response to crowding stress. Over-represented biological functions of DEGs also differed among hybrids. Strong correlation was observed between: 1) modules with up-regulation in high-yielding hybrids and yield traits, and 2) modules with up-regulation in low-yielding hybrids and plant/ear traits. Modules linked with yield traits may be important crowding stress response mechanisms influencing crop yield. Functional analysis of the modules and common DEGs identified candidate crowding stress tolerant processes in photosynthesis, glycolysis, cell wall, carbohydrate/nitrogen metabolic process, chromatin, and transcription regulation. Moreover, these biological functions were greatly inter-connected, indicating the importance of improving the mechanisms as a network.
Project description:Background: High seed vigor is crucial for agricultural production owing to its potential in high quality and yield of crops. A better understanding of the underlying mechanisms is highly necessary. Results: To better understand the involvement and regulatory mechanism of miRNAs correlated with maize seed vigor, small RNAs and degradome sequencing of two inbred lines Yu537A and Yu82 were performed. A total of 791 mature miRNAs were obtained with different expressions, among of which 505 miRNAs were newly identified and the rest miRNAs were more or less reported before by comparing the miRNAs with the sequences in miRbase database. Analysis of miRNA families showed maize seeds contain fewer miRNA families and larger miRNA families compared with animals, indicating that functions of miRNAs in maize seeds were more synergistic than animals. Degradome sequencing was used to identify the targets of miRNAs and the results showed a total of 6196 targets were obtained. Function analysis of differentially expressed miRNAs and targets showed Glycan degradation and galactose metabolism were closely correlated with improved corn seed vigor. Conclusions: These findings provide valuable information to understand the involvement of miRNAs with corn seed vigor and these putative genes will be valuable resources for improving the seed vigor in future corn breeding.
Project description:This study was designed to identify changes in gene expression that occur when corn was grown on different landscape features. Specifically on the backslope or summit/shoulder of a hill. In rolling landscapes, plant available water varies drastically by location and soil type. Almost simultaneously, plants may be flooded out in footslope locations whereas plants in summit locations may be suffering from severe drought. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of landscape position on corn (Zea mays) productivity and gene regulation. Corn was sampled at V12 for plant growth characteristics and transcriptome analysis at summit/shoulder and lower backslope positions. Plants at the summit had 16% less leaf area and biomass compared with plants at the toeslope. Gene expression analysis using microarray chips, transcriptome analysis, and qPCR indicated that plants at the summit had 708 genes down-regulated and 399 genes up-regulated compared to control plants at the lower back slope. GSEA (Gene Set Enrichment Analysis) indicated tolerance to cold, salt, and drying were increased in summit/should plants compared to control toeslope plants. However, nutrient uptake, recovery from wounding, pest and fungal disease resistance, along with photosynthetic capacity were all down-regulated in moderate water stresses plants. These responses suggest that corn preferentially responses to water stress as the expense of its ability to respond to other stresses.
Project description:This study was designed to look for differential gene expression in the annual dicot weed velvetleaf when it is grown in competition with corn relative to when it is grown in monoculture. Keywords: weed/crop competition