Genetic control of morphometric diversity in the maize shoot apical meristem

Samuel Leiboff, Xianran Li, Heng-Cheng Hu, Natalie Todt, Jinliang Yang, Xiao Li, Xiaoqing Yu, Gary J. Muehlbauer, Marja C. P. Timmermans, Jianming Yu, Patrick S. Schnable and Michael J. Scanlon ()
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Samuel Leiboff: Cornell University
Xianran Li: Iowa State University
Heng-Cheng Hu: Iowa State University
Natalie Todt: Cornell University
Jinliang Yang: Iowa State University
Xiao Li: Iowa State University
Xiaoqing Yu: Iowa State University
Gary J. Muehlbauer: University of Minnesota
Marja C. P. Timmermans: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Jianming Yu: Iowa State University
Patrick S. Schnable: Iowa State University
Michael J. Scanlon: Cornell University

Nature Communications, 2015, vol. 6, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The maize shoot apical meristem (SAM) comprises a small pool of stem cells that generate all above-ground organs. Although mutational studies have identified genetic networks regulating SAM function, little is known about SAM morphological variation in natural populations. Here we report the use of high-throughput image processing to capture rich SAM size variation within a diverse maize inbred panel. We demonstrate correlations between seedling SAM size and agronomically important adult traits such as flowering time, stem size and leaf node number. Combining SAM phenotypes with 1.2 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) via genome-wide association study reveals unexpected SAM morphology candidate genes. Analyses of candidate genes implicated in hormone transport, cell division and cell size confirm correlations between SAM morphology and trait-associated SNP alleles. Our data illustrate that the microscopic seedling SAM is predictive of adult phenotypes and that SAM morphometric variation is associated with genes not previously predicted to regulate SAM size.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9974

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