Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Pilu, R
• Panzeri, D
• Cassani, E
• Cerino Badone, F
• Landoni, M
• Nielsen, E

Titel

paramutation phenomenon is involved in the genetics of maize low phytic acid1-241 (lpa1-241) trait

Ist Teil von

• Heredity, 2009-03, Vol.102 (3), p.236-245

Ort / Verlag

England: Springer Nature B.V

Erscheinungsjahr

2009

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• So far, in maize, three classes of mutants involved in phytic acid biosynthesis have been isolated: lpa1, lpa2 and lpa3. In 2007, a gene tagging experiment performed by Shi et al. found that mutations in ZmMRP4 (multidrug resistance-associated proteins 4) gene cause lpa1 phenotype. In previous studies, we isolated and described a single recessive lpa mutation (originally named lpa241), which was allelic to the lpa1-1 mutant, and was consequently renamed lpa1-241. It showed a decrease in the expression of the myo-inositol (Ins)-3-phosphate synthase gene (mips1S). In this study, we present genetic and molecular analyses of the lpa1-241 mutation that indicate an epigenetic origin of this trait, that is, a paramutagenic interaction that results in meiotically heritable changes in ZmMRP4 gene expression, causing a strong pleiotropic effect on the whole plant. The use of a 5-Azacytidine treatment provided data suggesting an association between gene methylation and the lpa1-241 phenotype. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a paramutagenic activity not involving flavonoid biosynthesis in maize, but regarding a key enzyme of an important metabolic pathway in plants.