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Gene Expression Analysis in Sorghum Hybrids and Their Parental Lines at Critical Developmental Stages in Relation to Grain Yield Heterosis by Exploiting Heterosis-Related Genes from Major Cereals

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Abstract

Relative expression levels of selected genes from the Heterosis-Related Gene Database exhibiting more than 90% homology with sorghum were studied in hybrids and their respective parental lines for a better understanding on the molecular basis of heterosis. A high (27A × RS 673) and a low heterotic hybrid (7A × CB 26) of sorghum along with their parental lines were used for this purpose. Twenty (15 maize and 5 rice) genes exhibiting more than 90% homology with that of sorghum were identified. The maize genes ZmHG13, ZmHG16, and ZmhG19 exhibited more than fourfold increase over the male parent (RS 673) of high heterotic hybrid during booting stage, which started decreasing during flowering stage. Similarly, the rice genes OsHG1 and OsHG12 recorded > 2.5-fold increase. However, these genes recorded less than twofold increase during the same stage of the plant in the low heterotic hybrid. Notably, among the genes that exhibited higher expression in the highly heterotic hybrid were those coding for proteins, which were known to play crucial roles in the manifestation of heterosis in plants.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Director of ICAR – Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, for providing the facilities. IJ thanks the Osmania University, Hyderabad for permitting him to register for Ph.D. to complete his dissertation work.

Funding

This study was funded by the grant received from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, under Rapid Grant for Young Investigators (Grant No. BT/PR/13256/GBD/27/240/2009).

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  1. ICAR - Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, Telangana State, 500030, India

    Inapakurti Jaikishan, Passoupathy Rajendrakumar, Krishna Hariprasanna & B. Venkatesh Bhat

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  1. Inapakurti Jaikishan
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  2. Passoupathy Rajendrakumar
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  3. Krishna Hariprasanna
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Correspondence to Passoupathy Rajendrakumar.

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Jaikishan, I., Rajendrakumar, P., Hariprasanna, K. et al. Gene Expression Analysis in Sorghum Hybrids and Their Parental Lines at Critical Developmental Stages in Relation to Grain Yield Heterosis by Exploiting Heterosis-Related Genes from Major Cereals. Plant Mol Biol Rep 36, 418–428 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-018-1079-x

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