Background

Waxy maize (Zea mays L. sinensis Kulesh) is a mutant of maize (Zea mays L.) with a mutation at Waxy1 (Wx1) gene locus. The seed of waxy maize has higher viscosity compared to regular maize. By now, we know little about the expression patterns of genes that involved in the seed development of waxy maize.

Objective

By analyzing the transcriptome data during waxy maize seed development, we attempt to dig out the genes that may influence the seed development of waxy maize.

Methods

The seeds of waxy maize inbred line SWL01 from six phases after pollination were used to do RNA-seq. Bioinformatics methods were used to analyze the expression patterns of the expressed genes, to identify the genes involved in waxy maize seed development.

Results

A total of 24,546 genes including 1611 transcription factors (TFs) were detected during waxy maize seed development. Coexpression analysis of expressed genes revealed the dynamic processes of waxy maize seed development. Particularly, 2457 genes including 177 TFs were specially expressed in waxy maize seed, some of which mainly involved in the process of seed dormancy and maturation. In addition, 2681, 5686, 4491, 4386, 3669 and 4624 genes were identified to be differential expressed genes (DEGs) at six phases compared to regular maize B73, and 113 DEGs among them may be key genes that lead the difference of seed development between waxy and regular maizes in milk stage.

Conclusion

In summary, we elucidated the expression patterns of expressed genes during waxy maize seed development globally. A series of genes that associated with seed development were identified in our research, which may provide an important resource for functional study of waxy maize seed development to help molecular assisted breeding.

中文翻译：

---

蜡质玉米（Zea mays L. sinensis Kulesh）种子发育过程中的动态转录组。

背景

蜡质玉米（Zea mays L. sinensis Kulesh）是玉米（Zea mays L.）的突变体，在Waxy1（Wx1）基因位点具有突变。与普通玉米相比，糯玉米种子的粘度更高。到目前为止，我们对蜡质玉米种子发育中涉及的基因的表达模式了解甚少。

目的

通过分析蜡质玉米种子发育过程中的转录组数据，我们试图找出可能影响蜡质玉米种子发育的基因。

方法

授粉后六个阶段的糯玉米自交系SWL01的种子用于RNA-seq。使用生物信息学方法分析表达基因的表达模式，以鉴定参与糯玉米种子发育的基因。

结果

在糯玉米种子发育过程中共检测到24,546个基因，其中包括1611个转录因子（TF）。表达基因的共表达分析揭示了糯玉米种子发育的动态过程。特别是，在蜡质玉米种子中特异表达了2457个基因，包括177个TF，其中一些主要参与种子的休眠和成熟过程。另外，与常规玉米B73相比，鉴定出2681、5686、4491、4386、3669和4624个基因在六个阶段是差异表达基因（DEG），其中113个DEG可能是导致种子发育差异的关键基因。乳期的糯玉米和普通玉米之间。

结论

总之，我们阐明了全球糯玉米种子发育过程中表达基因的表达模式。在我们的研究中鉴定了一系列与种子发育相关的基因，这可能为蜡质玉米种子发育的功能研究提供重要资源，以帮助分子辅助育种。