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Increasing maize seed weight by enhancing the cytoplasmic ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase activity in transgenic maize plants

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Abstract

ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase) plays a key role in regulating starch biosynthesis in cereal seeds and is likely the most important determinant of seed strength. The Escherichia coli mutant glgC gene (glgC16), which encodes a highly active and allosterically insensitive AGPase, was introduced into maize (Zea mays L.) under the control of an endosperm-specific promoter. Developing seeds from transgenic maize plants showed up to 2–4-fold higher levels of AGPase activity in the presence of 5 mM inorganic phosphate (Pi). Transgenic plants with higher cytoplasmic AGPase activity under Pi-inhibitory conditions showed increases (13–25%) in seed weight over the untransformed control. In addition, in all transgenic maize plants, the seeds were fully filled, and the seed number of transgenic plants had no significant difference compared with that of untransformed control. These results indicate that increasing cytoplasmic AGPase activity has a marked effect on sink activity and, in turn, seed weight in transgenic maize plants.

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Abbreviations

AGPase:

ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase

Bt2:

Brittle2

DAP:

Days after self-pollination

3-PGA:

3-phosphoglyceric acid

Pi:

Inorganic phosphate

Sh2:

Shrunken-2

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by the National Special Program for Research and Industrialization of Transgenic Plants (JY03A17).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100094, China

    Zhangying Wang, Xiaoping Chen, Jianhua Wang, Tingsong Liu, Yan Liu, Li Zhao & Guoying Wang

  2. Institute of Crop Sciences, CAAS, Beijing, 100081, China

    Guoying Wang

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  1. Zhangying Wang
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  2. Xiaoping Chen
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  3. Jianhua Wang
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  4. Tingsong Liu
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  5. Yan Liu
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  6. Li Zhao
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  7. Guoying Wang
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Correspondence to Guoying Wang.

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Wang, Z., Chen, X., Wang, J. et al. Increasing maize seed weight by enhancing the cytoplasmic ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase activity in transgenic maize plants. Plant Cell Tiss Organ Cult 88, 83–92 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-006-9173-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11240-006-9173-4

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