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Genetic regulation of maize flower development and sex determination

Planta volume 245, pages 1–14 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Main conclusion

The determining process of pistil fate are central to maize sex determination, mainly regulated by a genetic network in which the sex-determining genes SILKLESS 1 , TASSEL SEED 1 , TASSEL SEED 2 and the paramutagenic locus Required to maintain repression 6 play pivotal roles.

Maize silks, which emerge from the ear shoot and derived from the pistil, are the functional stigmas of female flowers and play a pivotal role in pollination. Previous studies on sex-related mutants have revealed that sex-determining genes and phytohormones play an important role in the regulation of flower organogenesis. The processes determining pistil fate are central to flower development, where a silk identified gene SILKLESS 1 (SK1) is required to protect pistil primordia from a cell death signal produced by two commonly known genes, TASSEL SEED 1 (TS1) and TASSEL SEED 2 (TS2). In this review, maize flower developmental process is presented together with a focus on important sex-determining mutants and hormonal signaling affecting pistil development. The role of sex-determining genes, microRNAs, phytohormones, and the paramutagenic locus Required to maintain repression 6 (Rmr6), in forming a regulatory network that determines pistil fate, is discussed. Cloning SK1 and clarifying its function were crucial in understanding the regulation network of sex determination. The signaling mechanisms of phytohormones in sex determination are also an important research focus.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions.

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  1. College of Agronomy/State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, Shandong Agricultural University, Daizong Road No. 61, Taian, 271018, Shandong, China

    Qinglin Li & Baoshen Liu

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  2. Baoshen Liu
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Correspondence to Qinglin Li or Baoshen Liu.

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Li, Q., Liu, B. Genetic regulation of maize flower development and sex determination. Planta 245, 1–14 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-016-2607-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-016-2607-2

Keywords

  • Maize
  • Flower development
  • Sex determination
  • Gene and phytohormone function
  • Regulatory network