Open AccessMutations in the maize zeta-carotene desaturase gene lead to viviparous kernel
Author(s) -
Yan Chen,
Jiankun Li,
Kaijian Fan,
Yong Du,
Zhenjing Ren,
Jing Xu,
Jun Zheng,
Yun-Jun Liu,
Junjie Fu,
Dongtao Ren,
Guoying Wang
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0174270
Subject(s) - mutant , biology , locus (genetics) , gene , allele , genetics , intron , phenotype , microbiology and biotechnology
Preharvest sprouting reduces the maize quality and causes a significant yield loss in maize production. vp-wl2 is a Mutator ( Mu )-induced viviparous mutant in maize, causing white or pale yellow kernels, dramatically reduced carotenoid and ABA content, and a high level of zeta-carotene accumulation. Here, we reported the cloning of the vp-wl2 gene using a modified digestion-ligation-amplification method (DLA). The results showed that an insertion of Mu9 in the first intron of the zeta-carotene desaturase ( ZDS ) gene results in the vp-wl2 mutation. Previous studies have suggested that ZDS is likely the structural gene of the viviparous9 ( vp9 ) locus. Therefore, we performed an allelic test using vp-wl2 and three vp9 mutants. The results showed that vp-wl2 is a novel allele of the vp9 locus. In addition, the sequences of ZDS gene were identified in these three vp9 alleles. The vp-wl2 mutant gene was subsequently introgressed into four maize inbred lines, and a viviparous phenotype was observed with yield losses from 7.69% to 13.33%.