TY - JOUR
T1 - The dominant and poorly penetrant phenotypes of maize Unstable factor for orange1 are caused by DNA methylation changes at a linked transposon
AU - Wittmeyer, Kameron
AU - Cui, Jin
AU - Chatterjee, Debamalya
AU - Lee, Tzuu Fen
AU - Tan, Qixian
AU - Xue, Weiya
AU - Jiao, Yinping
AU - Wang, Po Hao
AU - Gaffoor, Iffa
AU - Ware, Doreen
AU - Meyers, Blake C.
AU - Chopraa, Surinder
N1 - Funding Information:
WethankGrazianaTaramino,KevinSimcox,andRobertMeeleyofDuPont/ Pioneer Hi-Bred for help with SNP genotyping, the Penn State Agronomy farm manager Scott Harkcom and the Plant Science greenhouse manager Scott DiLoretto for assistance in growing field and greenhouse crops, respectively. We are grateful to Charles Burnham for identifying this interesting mutant, to Derek Styles for the seeds of original Ufo1 stock, to Thomas Peterson for initiating the characterization of Ufo1, to Michael McMullen for early advice on mapping, and to Rajandeep Sekhon for work mapping and characterizing the gene. This work was supported by National Science Foundation collaborative awards 1051654 to S.C., 1051576 to B.C.M., and 1127112 to D.W. Support from U.S. Department of Agriculture Hatch awards PEN04452 and PEN04613 to S.C. is acknowledged. K.W. and J.C. were supported through Graduate Assistantships from the Penn State Plant Science Department and Plant Biology Program. D.C. is partially supported by an Indian Council of Agricultural Research assistantship and the Plant Science Department. T.-f.L., W.X., and Y.J. were supported via the National Science Foundation awards mentioned above.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 ASPB.
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - The maize (Zea mays) mutant Unstable factor for orange1 (Ufo1) has been implicated in the epigenetic modifications of pericarp color1 (p1), which regulates the production of the flavonoid pigments phlobaphenes. Here, we show that the ufo1 gene maps to a genetically recalcitrant region near the centromere of chromosome 10. Transcriptome analysis of Ufo1-1 mutant and wild-type plants identified a candidate gene in the mapping region using a comparative sequence-based approach. The candidate gene, GRMZM2G053177, is overexpressed by <45-fold in multiple tissues of Ufo1-1, explaining the dominance of Ufo1-1 and its phenotypes. In the mutant stock, GRMZM2G053177 has a unique transcript originating within a CACTA transposon inserted in its first intron, and it is missing the first four codons of the wild-type transcript. GRMZM2G053177 expression is regulated by the DNA methylation status of the CACTA transposon, explaining the incomplete penetrance and poor expressivity of Ufo1-1. Transgenic overexpression lines of GRMZM2G053177 (Ufo1-1) phenocopy the p1-induced pigmentation in coleoptiles, tassels, leaf sheaths, husks, pericarps, and cob glumes. Transcriptome analysis of Ufo1 versus wild-type tissues revealed changes in several pathways related to abiotic and biotic stress. Thus, this study addresses the enigma of Ufo1 identity in maize, which had gone unsolved for more than 50 years.
AB - The maize (Zea mays) mutant Unstable factor for orange1 (Ufo1) has been implicated in the epigenetic modifications of pericarp color1 (p1), which regulates the production of the flavonoid pigments phlobaphenes. Here, we show that the ufo1 gene maps to a genetically recalcitrant region near the centromere of chromosome 10. Transcriptome analysis of Ufo1-1 mutant and wild-type plants identified a candidate gene in the mapping region using a comparative sequence-based approach. The candidate gene, GRMZM2G053177, is overexpressed by <45-fold in multiple tissues of Ufo1-1, explaining the dominance of Ufo1-1 and its phenotypes. In the mutant stock, GRMZM2G053177 has a unique transcript originating within a CACTA transposon inserted in its first intron, and it is missing the first four codons of the wild-type transcript. GRMZM2G053177 expression is regulated by the DNA methylation status of the CACTA transposon, explaining the incomplete penetrance and poor expressivity of Ufo1-1. Transgenic overexpression lines of GRMZM2G053177 (Ufo1-1) phenocopy the p1-induced pigmentation in coleoptiles, tassels, leaf sheaths, husks, pericarps, and cob glumes. Transcriptome analysis of Ufo1 versus wild-type tissues revealed changes in several pathways related to abiotic and biotic stress. Thus, this study addresses the enigma of Ufo1 identity in maize, which had gone unsolved for more than 50 years.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060573998&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85060573998&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1105/tpc.18.00546
DO - 10.1105/tpc.18.00546
M3 - Article
C2 - 30563848
AN - SCOPUS:85060573998
VL - 30
SP - 3006
EP - 3023
JO - Plant Cell
JF - Plant Cell
SN - 1040-4651
IS - 12
ER -