Genome-wide identification and transcriptional analysis of folate metabolism-related genes in maize kernels.

Background: Maize is a major staple food crop globally and contains various concentrations of vitamins. Folates are essential water-soluble B-vitamins that play an important role as one-carbon (C1) donors and acceptors in organisms. To gain an understanding of folate metabolism in maize, we performed an intensive in silico analysis to screen for genes involved in folate metabolism using publicly available databases, followed by examination of the transcript expression patterns and profiling of the folate derivatives in the kernels of two maize inbred lines.