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ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Cereal Disease Lab » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #305190
Title: The transcriptome landscape of early maize meiosis

Author
item DUKOWIC-SCHULZE, STEFANIE - University Of Minnesota
item SUNDARARAJAN, ANITHA - National Center For Genome Resources
item MUDGE, JOANN - National Center For Genome Resources
item RAMARAJ, THIRUVARANGAN - National Center For Genome Resources
item FARMER, ANDREW - National Center For Genome Resources
item WANG, MINGHUI - Cornell University
item SUN, QI - Cornell University
item PILLARDY, JAROSLAW - Cornell University
item Kianian, Shahryar
item RETZEL, ERNEST - Cornell University
item PAWLOWSKI, WOJCIECH - Cornell University
item CHEN, CHANGBIN - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: BMC Plant Biology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/28/2014
Publication Date: 5/3/2014
Citation: Dukowic-Schulze, S., Sundararajan, A., Mudge, J., Ramaraj, T., Farmer, A.D., Wang, M., Sun, Q., Pillardy, J., Kianian, S., Retzel, E.F., Pawlowski, W.P., Chen, C. 2014. The transcriptome landscape of early maize meiosis. Biomed Central (BMC) Plant Biology. 14:118.

Interpretive Summary: Recombination is the main source of genetic variation; it facilitates adaptation, purges deleterious mutations from genomes and populations, and is a major determinant of genome architecture. In addition to these fundamental functions, recombination is utilized as an unparalleled instrument of plant breeding. However, despite its importance, we know very little about what dictates the distribution of recombination events in higher organisms. In this report we describe the genes that are expressed in early meiosis leading to initiation of reombination. We found a significantly up-regulated expression of mitochondrial genes, both nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded, and propose a connection between meiotic processes and altered/increased energy production. This understanding is critical for manipulating this critical biological process for efficient improvement of cultivated crop plants.

Technical Abstract: Meiosis, particularly meiotic recombination, is a major factor affecting yield and breeding of plants. To gain insight into the transcriptome landscape during early initiation steps of meiotic recombination, we profiled early prophase I meiocytes from maize using RNA-seq. Our analyses of genes preferentially expressed during early meiotic prophase indicated the importance of several cellular processes, including processes that are novel or under-acknowledged in early meiosis. We found a significantly up-regulated expression of mitochondrial genes, both nuclear- and mitochondrial-encoded, and propose a connection between meiotic processes and altered/increased energy production. Furthermore, we generated a candidate maize homologue list of known meiotic genes from Arabidopsis. Taken together, we present a high-resolution analysis of the transcriptome landscape in early meiocytes of an important crop plant, which will be useful for further studies of meiosis.