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Association analysis of candidate genes for maysin and chlorogenic acid accumulation in maize silks

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Abstract

Two compounds, the C-glycosyl flavone maysin and the phenylpropanoid product chlorogenic acid (CGA), have been implicated in corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea Boddie) resistance in maize (Zea mays L.). Previous quantitative trait locus (QTL) analyses identified the pericarp color (p) locus, which encodes a transcription factor, as the major QTL for maysin and CGA. QTL analysis has also implicated the dihydroflavanol reductase (DFR; E.C. no. 1.1.1.219) locus anthocyaninless1 (a1) and the duplicate chalcone synthase (CHS; E.C. no. 2.3.1.74) loci colorless2 (c2) and white pollen1 (whp1) as genes underlying QTL for maysin and/or CGA synthesis. Epistatic interactions between p and a1 and between p and c2 were also defined. CHS catalyzes the first step in the flavonoid pathway and represents one of the first enzyme steps following the branch off the general phenylpropanoid pathway towards CGA synthesis. In maize, the reduction of dihydroflavanol to leucoanthocyanin by DFR immediately follows the pathway branch leading to C-glycosyl flavone production. The detection of QTLs for maysin and CGA concentration at loci encoding enzyme steps following the pathway branch points implicates alterations in the flow of biochemical intermediates as the biological basis of the QTL effects. To examine if sequence variation among alleles of a1, c2, and whp1 affect maysin and CGA synthesis in maize silks, we performed an association analysis. Because the p locus has often been a major QTL for maysin and CGA and has exhibited epistatic interactions with a1, c2, and whp1, association analysis was conditioned on the p genotype. A highly significant association of two sequence polymorphisms in the promoter of a1 with maysin synthesis was demonstrated. Additional conditioning on the genotype of the significant a1 polymorphism allowed the detection of a significant polymorphism within the whp1 promoter. Our analyses demonstrate that conditioning for epistatic factors greatly increases the power of association testing.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Katherine Houchins and Chris Browne for technical assistance and Sherry Flint-Garcia and Jim Holland for reviewing the manuscript and for helpful suggestions. This research was supported by USDA-National Research Initiative, Plant Genome Grant no. 2001-35301-10581 and funds provided by USDA-Agricultural Research Service. SJS was supported by a University of Missouri-Molecular Biology Program Predoctoral Fellowship. The names of products are necessary to report factually on available data; however, neither the USDA nor the University of Missouri guarantees or warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name does not imply approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable.

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  1. S. J. Szalma

    Present address: USDA-ARS, Department of Genetics, North Carolina State University, Gardner Hall, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Genetics Area Program, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    S. J. Szalma

  2. USDA-ARS, Plant, Soil, and Nutrition Research Unit, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    E. S. Buckler IV

  3. Richard B. Russell Research Center, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 31793, USA

    M. E. Snook

  4. Plant Genetics Research Unit, USDA-ARS, and Department of Agronomy, University of Missouri, Curtis Hall, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA

    M. D. McMullen

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  1. S. J. Szalma
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  2. E. S. Buckler IV
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  3. M. E. Snook
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  4. M. D. McMullen
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Correspondence to M. D. McMullen.

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Communicated by S.J. Knapp

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Szalma, S.J., Buckler, E.S., Snook, M.E. et al. Association analysis of candidate genes for maysin and chlorogenic acid accumulation in maize silks. Theor Appl Genet 110, 1324–1333 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-005-1973-0

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