regulates maize root growth and development by interacting with under the specific binding of .

BACKGROUND

The auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) is a type of endogenous plant hormone with a low concentration in plants, but it plays an important role in their growth and development. The gene family was found to be an early sensitive auxin gene with a complicated way of regulating growth and development in plants. The regulation of root growth and development by family genes has been reported in Arabidopsis, rice and maize.

RESULTS

In this study, subcellular localization indicated that ZmIAA1-ZmIAA6 primarily played a role in the nucleus. A thermogram analysis showed that genes were highly expressed in the roots, which was also confirmed by the maize tissue expression patterns. In maize overexpressing , the length of the main root, the number of lateral roots, and the stalk height at the seedling stage were significantly increased compared with those of the wild type, while the EMS mutant was significantly reduced. The total number of roots and the dry weight of maize overexpressing at the mature stage were also significantly increased compared with those of the wild type, while those of the mutant was significantly reduced. Yeast one-hybrid experiments showed that could specifically bind to the promoter region. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation and yeast two-hybridization indicated an interaction between ZmIAA5 and ZmARF5.

CONCLUSIONS

Taken together, the results of this study indicate that regulates maize root growth and development by interacting with under the specific binding of .