Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
Nat Commun. 2017 Mar 16;8:14752. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14752.
Maize is the highest yielding cereal crop grown worldwide for grain or silage. Here, we show that modulating the expression of the maize PLASTOCHRON1 (ZmPLA1) gene, encoding a cytochrome P450 (CYP78A1), results in increased organ growth, seedling vigour, stover biomass and seed yield. The engineered trait is robust as it improves yield in an inbred as well as in a panel of hybrids, at several locations and over multiple seasons in the field. Transcriptome studies, hormone measurements and the expression of the auxin responsive DR5rev:mRFPer marker suggest that PLA1 may function through an increase in auxin. Detailed analysis of growth over time demonstrates that PLA1 stimulates the duration of leaf elongation by maintaining dividing cells in a proliferative, undifferentiated state for a longer period of time. The prolonged duration of growth also compensates for growth rate reduction caused by abiotic stresses.
玉米是全球产量最高的谷物作物，可用于粮食或青贮饲料。在这里，我们表明，调节编码细胞色素 P450（CYP78A1）的玉米 PLASTOCHRON1（ZmPLA1）基因的表达，可导致器官生长、幼苗活力、秸秆生物量和种子产量增加。该工程特性具有稳健性，因为它可以提高自交系和杂交种的产量，在多个地点和多个季节的田间试验中都有显著效果。转录组研究、激素测量和生长素反应性 DR5rev:mRFPer 标记的表达表明，PLA1 可能通过增加生长素来发挥作用。对生长过程的详细分析表明，PLA1 通过将分裂细胞维持在增殖、未分化状态更长时间，从而刺激叶片伸长的持续时间。生长时间的延长还可以弥补非生物胁迫引起的生长速率降低。
