Comparative transcriptome profiling of maize coleoptilar nodes during shoot-borne root initiation.

Maize (Zea mays) develops an extensive shoot-borne root system to secure water and nutrient uptake and to provide anchorage in the soil. In this study, early coleoptilar node (first shoot node) development was subjected to a detailed morphological and histological analysis. Subsequently, microarray profiling via hybridization of oligonucleotide microarrays representing transcripts of 31,355 unique maize genes at three early stages of coleoptilar node development was performed.

The mucilage proteome of maize (Zea mays L.) primary roots.

Maize (Zea mays L.) root cap cells secrete a large variety of compounds including proteins via an amorphous gel structure called mucilage into the rhizosphere. In the present study, mucilage secreted by primary roots of 3-4 day old maize seedlings was collected under axenic conditions, and the constitutively secreted proteome was analyzed.

Regulation of the pericycle proteome in maize (Zea mays L.) primary roots by RUM1 which is required for lateral root initiation.

Lateral roots are all roots that are initiated in the pericycle cell layer of other roots during postembryonic development. The maize (Zea mays L.) mutant rum1 (rootless with undetectable meristems 1) does not initiate lateral roots in the primary root.

Regulation of the maize (Zea mays L.) embryo proteome by RTCS which controls seminal root initiation.

Seminal roots are initiated at the scutellar node during maize (Zea mays L.) embryo development. The maize mutant rtcs (rootless concerning crown and seminal roots) does not initiate seminal roots while its wild-type siblings form on average 2.

Comparison of maize (Zea mays L.) F1-hybrid and parental inbred line primary root transcriptomes suggests organ-specific patterns of nonadditive gene expression and conserved expression trends.

The phenomenon of heterosis describes the increased agronomic performance of heterozygous F(1) plants compared to their homozygous parental inbred plants. Heterosis is manifested during the early stages of root development in maize. The goal of this study was to identify nonadditive gene expression in primary roots of maize hybrids compared to the average expression levels of their parental inbred lines.

Proteomic dissection of plant development.

Plant development is controlled by complex endogenous genetic programs and responses to environmental cues. Proteome analyses have recently been introduced to plant biology to identify proteins instrumental in these developmental processes. To date most plant proteome studies have been employed to generate reference maps of the most abundant soluble proteins of plant organs at a defined developmental stage.