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GENE EXPRESSION

Weeding out bad alleles

Nature Plants volume 4, pages 193–194 (2018)Cite this article

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Geneticists and breeders are enthralled with the variability of traits within a species, but fundamental questions remain about what types of molecular changes underlie phenotypic variation. An investigation of the transcriptomes of agricultural varieties of maize provides insights into the variability of gene expression and it’s phenotypic consequences.

Maize provides an excellent model system for quantitative genetics1,2 and for linking molecular variation to traits that were selected for during domestication or agricultural improvement3. Examples of changes in gene expression that were critical for domestication4 or local adaptation5,6 of maize are well documented. In other cases, changes in the coding sequence that affect the protein products are the basis for phenotypic variation7.

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Fig. 1: Using the transcriptome to identify poor performance.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA

    Candice N Hirsch

  2. Department of Plant and Microbial Biology, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN, USA

    Nathan M Springer

Authors
  1. Candice N Hirsch
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  2. Nathan M Springer
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Correspondence to Candice N Hirsch or Nathan M Springer.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Hirsch, C.N., Springer, N.M. Weeding out bad alleles. Nature Plants 4, 193–194 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0133-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0133-x

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