Maternally expressed gene1 is a novel maize endosperm transfer cell-specific gene with a maternal parent-of-origin pattern of expression

Gutiérrez-Marcos, J. F., Costa, L. M., Biderre-Petit, C., Khbaya, B., O'Sullivan, D. M. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4889-056X, Wormald, M., Perez, P. and Dickinson, H. G. (2004) Maternally expressed gene1 is a novel maize endosperm transfer cell-specific gene with a maternal parent-of-origin pattern of expression. The Plant Cell, 16 (5). pp. 1288-1301. ISSN 1040-4651

Abstract/Summary

Growth of the maize (Zea mays) endosperm is tightly regulated by maternal zygotic and sporophytic genes, some of which are subject to a parent-of-origin effect. We report here a novel gene, maternally expressed gene1 (meg1), which shows a maternal parent-of-origin expression pattern during early stages of endosperm development but biallelic expression at later stages. Interestingly, a stable reporter fusion containing the meg1 promoter exhibits a similar pattern of expression. meg1 is exclusively expressed in the basal transfer region of the endosperm. Further, we show that the putatively processed MEG1 protein is glycosylated and subsequently localized to the labyrinthine ingrowths of the transfer cell walls. Hence, the discovery of a parent-of-origin gene expressed solely in the basal transfer region opens the door to epigenetic mechanisms operating in the endosperm to regulate certain aspects of nutrient trafficking from the maternal tissue into the developing seed.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/32316
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	No Reading authors. Back catalogue items Interdisciplinary centres and themes > Centre for Food Security Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Crop Science
Publisher	American Society of Plant Biologists
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