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1. 
Sierra Wolfenbarger John FowlerRex Cole
 Identification of Genes Required for Male and Female Gametophyte Function in Maize 
2. Like most plants it completes  an “alternation of generation” 	Diploid to Haploid to Diploid
Haploid stage is called the gametophyte stage  					(e.g.: pollen and embryo sac)
 Maize Life Cycle  
3. Corn is a model organism and discoveries could relate to other plants
Maize is one of the top three food crops in the world
With a better understanding of the fertilization process, higher  yields from this crop could be pursued, resulting in more corn for everyone  Why Study Maize Gametophytes 
4. Haploid gametophytes require active gene functions 
 Pollination and Fertilization 
5. Not much is known about gametophyte genes
Due to haploidy, mutations in active genes are often lethal
Impossible to study if mutation is not heritable
 Genes needed for Gametophyte 
6. Rescuing the Gene, part 1 
7. Rescuing the Gene, part 2 
8. The trisomes monitored by kernel marker
 Example  translucent kernel Rescuing the Gene, part 3 
9. An Activator transposon (Ac) is used to disrupt the coding sequence of genes
Ac is monitored by a separate marker 
Example purple spotting Creating the Mutations 
10. The Ac can duplicate, creating a new transposon insertion
monitored by spotting phenotype of the kernels
New mutation potentially interesting  Creating the Mutation 
11. Isolate and identify newly found gametophyte genes
Adapt TAIL-PCR protocol to Maize 
Gather more data to support gametophyte mutant phenotypes
Verify plant genotypes using PCR
Perform crosses with mutants to confirm effect on gametophytes
 Focus for Summer 
12. The lab has already recovered a number of mutations (duplicated Ac’s), with trisomes present
These plants were crossed with a *tester line, and then 2Ac + trisome seeds were selected by phenotype  First Step (completed) 
13. These trisome +2Ac seeds are a set of putative gametophyte mutants
The progeny of these seeds are evaluated to see if a transmission phenotype is present
Based on ratios of kernel phenotype
 Second Step (completed) 
14. Categories of the Screening Process 
15. Categories of the Screening Process 
16. Categories of the Screening Process 
17. Putative gametophyte mutants were planted
3  with trisome 9s and 7  with trisome 1L 
Experiment: Cross PCR-verified plants to confirm mutant effects on gametophytes  Third Step (in progress)  
18.  Plants are checked to make sure they contain trisome 
 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Verification of Genotype  
19. Trisome PCR 
20. Loss of Trisome 
21. Only 2 of 10 mutant lines contain the trisome  Loss of Trisome 
22. Recombination 
23. Identify the mutant gene using Thermal Asymmetric Interlaced PCR (TAIL-PCR)
Adapt procedure to maize Ac
TAIL-PCR uses both nested Ac-specific primers and degenerate arbitrary primers
alternating high and low annealing temperature cycles
 Fourth Step (early stages) 
24. Second step of TAIL-PCR (TAIL-2)
Uses diluted DNA from 1st Tail reaction (TAIL-1) with nested Ac primer  TAIL-PCR 
25. Gel from TAIL2-PCR 
26. TAIL-2 Product Sequence Analysis 
27. Mapping of Sequence  
28. Mapping of Sequence 
29. Trisome confirmed in 2 of 10 mutant lines 
Tester crosses made with these 2 lines
Future: harvest and sort seeds to confirm mutant transmission ratios
 Summary  
30. Trisome confirmed in 2 of 10 mutant lines 
Tester crosses made with these 2 lines
Future: harvest and sort seeds to confirm mutant transmission ratios
TAIL-PCR protocol adapted to Maize 
Mapped 2 new transposon sites using TAIL-PCR
Future: additional TAIL-PCR to find Ac’s of interest (from 2 gametophyte mutant lines)
 Summary  
31. Trisome confirmed in 2 of 10 mutant lines 
Tester crosses made with these 2 lines
Future: harvest and sort seeds to confirm mutant transmission ratios
TAIL-PCR protocol adapted to Maize (Ac-TAIL)
Mapped 2 new transposon sites using Ac-TAIL
Future: additional TAIL PCR to find Ac’s of interest (from 2 gametophyte mutant lines)
OVERALL: Ac-TAIL will be very useful as more gametophyte mutants are found
 Summary  
32. Howard Hughes Medical Institute
National Science Foundation 
 John Fowler
Kevin Ahern
Fowler Lab:
Rex Cole
Zuzana Vejlupkova
Maria Ivanchenko
Chintan Joshi
Nathan Synder
Luisa Snyder
 Acknowledgements