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Contribution of the Zea mays insulin-like growth factor (ZmIGF) to the embryogenic competence of maize tissue cultures

  • Plant Tissue Culture
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Abstract

Establishment of somatic embryogenic cultures is highly influenced by the plant genotype and the explant type. In maize, immature embryos generate embryogenic callus (E), whereas quiescent embryos produce non-embryogenic callus (NE). E callus shows active growth and high capacity of plant regeneration, while NE callus shows slow growth and no regeneration capacity. Active growth is needed for the establishment of embryogenic cultures; therefore, lack of this characteristic pose a handicap for plant regeneration from NE callus. To correct the slow growth on NE callus, the Zea mays insulin-like growth factor (ZmIGF), a peptide that promotes growth by activating the target of rapamycin (TOR) pathway, was used as media supplement. Additionally, since the TOR pathway is connected to the auxin pathway, ZmIGF participation in cell differentiation was considered. To this end, this research explores ZmIGF effect, beyond growth and proliferation on a Mexican maize landrace, which has shown high somatic embryogenic capacity. Expression levels of reported genes involved in the embryogenesis and differentiation processes were evaluated in maize E, NE, and NE-ZmIGF (NE-Zm) growth-activated calluses. A tendency to upregulate messenger RNA (mRNA) expression was observed for genes encoding transcription factors and auxin transport. Some genes related to epigenetic control showed downregulation. Global DNA methylation and chromatin modifications results suggest an epigenetic activation state on E callus and a repression status on NE callus. ZmIGF induced modifications at DNA methylation and chromatin over NE callus, which changed its original repression state to an active one. Overall, results suggest that the expression of genes related to auxin signaling, mainly transport and efflux carriers, are essential for accomplishing plant regeneration through somatic embryogenesis (SE).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Gertrud Lund from CINVESTAV for the global methylation analysis. The authors also thank undergraduate student Miguel Gandi Valdez Dávila for his help in the DNA methylation experiments. This research was financed by The Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) project 101327. VGV was a postdoctoral fellow of the DGAPA-UNAM program.

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  1. Laboratorio 103, Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Química, UNAM, Conjunto “E”, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Ciudad de México, Mexico

    Verónica Garrocho-Villegas, Raúl Aguilar & Estela Sánchez de Jiménez

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  1. Verónica Garrocho-Villegas
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  2. Raúl Aguilar
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  3. Estela Sánchez de Jiménez
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Correspondence to Estela Sánchez de Jiménez.

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Garrocho-Villegas, V., Aguilar, R. & de Jiménez, E.S. Contribution of the Zea mays insulin-like growth factor (ZmIGF) to the embryogenic competence of maize tissue cultures. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.-Plant 53, 122–132 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11627-017-9808-7

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