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Seed Development: OMICS Technologies toward Improvement of Seed Quality and Crop Yield pp 81–97Cite as

A Transcriptional Roadmap for Seed Development in Maize

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Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is an important source for food, feed, and fuel with rapidly increasing global demand. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, it is amongst the top three crops in terms of its production and consumption throughout the world. To date, several studies have unraveled many aspects of the physiological, biochemical, transcriptomics, and proteomics properties of maize seed development. Those studies have helped in better understanding the underlying genetic control of this important event in maize, and cereal seeds in general. In this chapter, we discuss the transcriptomic behavior of maize plants during seed developmental phase and highlight the regulatory roadmap for the synthesis of starch, fatty acids, and storage proteins in seeds. Genes associated with seed development will not only provide information for understanding the transcriptional network during seed development, but also will provide a blueprint for future modification of seed quality and seed vigor through genetic engineering in maize, and other important cereal crops.

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Acknowledgments

Authors acknowledge and thank the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (31000747, 30671303, 30700472, and 30900900) for supporting the research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Bio-Energy Crops, School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, No. 333 Nanchen Road, 200444, Shanghai, P. R. China

    Guifeng Wang, Gang Wang, Fei Wang & Rentao Song

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  1. Guifeng Wang
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  2. Gang Wang
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  3. Fei Wang
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  4. Rentao Song
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Correspondence to Rentao Song .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. RLABB, Sanepa, Lalitpur, Nepal

    Ganesh K. Agrawal

  2. , Biology, University of Tsukuba, Tennoudai 1-1-1, Tsukuba, 305-8572, Japan

    Randeep Rakwal

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Wang, G., Wang, G., Wang, F., Song, R. (2012). A Transcriptional Roadmap for Seed Development in Maize. In: Agrawal, G., Rakwal, R. (eds) Seed Development: OMICS Technologies toward Improvement of Seed Quality and Crop Yield. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4749-4_5

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