The aldo-keto reductases (AKRs) are classified as oxidoreductases and are found in organisms from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The AKR superfamily consists of more than 120 proteins that are distributed throughout 14 families. Very few plant AKRs have been characterized and their biological functions remain largely unknown. Previous work suggests that AKRs may participate in stress tolerance by d...

As an ancient segmental tetraploid, the maize (Zea mays L.) genome contains large numbers of paralogs that are expected to have diverged by a minimum of 10% over time. Nearly identical paralogs (NIPs) are defined as paralogous genes that exhibit > or = 98% identity. Sequence analyses of the "gene space" of the maize inbred line B73 genome, coupled with wet lab validation, have revealed that, co...

We have examined the structure of nuclear genes coding for ribosomal RNAs in maize and its wild relatives, the teosintes and Tripsacum. Digestion of the rDNA (genes coding for 18S, 5.8S and 26S RNAs) with 15 restriction endonucleases (with six base pair recognition sites) yields essentially a single map for the approximately 10,000 repeat units within an individual plant or species. Both length...

Recent advances demonstrate that epigenome changes can also cause phenotypic diversity and can be heritable across generations, indicating that they may play an important role in evolutionary processes. In this study, we analyzed the chromosomal distribution of several histone modifications in five elite maize cultivars (B73, Mo17, Chang7-2, Zheng58, ZD958) and their two wild relatives (Zea may...

Mutator stocks of maize exhibit a high mutation rate correlated with the activity of a family of transposable elements. Mu1 and, to a lesser extent, the closely related Mu1.7 elements are responsible for most mutator-induced mutations that have been characterized. These elements are found in 10-60 copies in mutator stocks, and zero to a few intact elements exist in nonmutator maize stocks. Addi...

Maize and its closest wild relatives, the teosintes, differ strikingly in the morphology of their female inflorescences or ears. Despite their divergent morphologies, several studies indicate that some varieties of teosinte are cytologically indistinguishable from maize and capable of forming fully fertile hybrids with maize. Molecular analyses identified one form of teosinte (Zea mays ssp. par...

Large-scale cultivation of plants used as biofuels is likely to alter the ecological interactions of current agricultural crops and their insect pests in a myriad of ways. Recent evidence suggests many contemporary maize pests will be able to use potential biofuel crops such as switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., and miscanthus as hosts. To determine how suitable these biofuels are to the maize, ...

A genetic map containing 103 microsatellite loci and 200 F2 plants derived from the cross R15 × Ye478 were used for mapping of quantitative trait loci (QTL) in maize (Zea mays L.). QTLs were characterized in a population of 200 F2:4 lines, derived from selfing the F2 plants, and were evaluated with two replications in two environments. QTL mapping analysis of plant height was performed by using...

Aims: The aim of this study was to estimate the efficiency of T-DNA transfer during Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of maize (Zea mays L.) at different temperatures. In addition, the way of T-DNA transfer was studied after application of an Agrobacterium suspension at maize pistil filaments. Study Design: Transgenic maize plants were obtained with an antisense suppressor of the proline de...