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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Plant Gene Expression Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #172958
Title: THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AXIAL PATTERNING IN THE MAIZE LEAF

Author
item FOSTER, TOSHI - HORT/FOOD RES NEW ZEALAND
item HAY, ANGELA - ARS UCB PLNT GENE EXP CTR
item Hake, Sarah

Submitted to: Development
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/11/2004
Publication Date: 8/15/2004
Citation: Foster, T., Hay, A., Hake, S.C. 2004. The establishment of axial patterning in the maize leaf. Development, 131:3921-3929.

Interpretive Summary: The maize leaf consists of four distinct tissues along its proximodistal axis: sheath, ligule, auricle and blade. liguleless1 (lg1) functions to specify ligule and auricle, and may propagate a signal that correctly positions the blade-sheath boundary. The dominant Wavy auricle in blade (Wab1) mutation disrupts both the mediolateral and proximodistal axes of the maize leaf.

Technical Abstract: Analysis of lg1, Wab double mutants reveals a genetic interaction that suggests lg1 functions in leaf width as well as elaborations of ligule and auricle. The dominant Wavy auricle in blade (Wab1) mutation disrupts both the mediolateral and proximodistal axes of the maize leaf. Wab1 leaf blades are narrow and ectopic auricle and sheath extend into the blade. The recessive lg1-R mutation exacerbates the Wab1 phenotype; in the double mutants, most of the proximal blade is deleted and sheath tissue extends along the residual blade. We show that lg1 is misexpressed in Wab1 leaves. Our results suggest that the Wab1 defect is partially compensated for by lg1 expression. A mosaic analysis of Wab1 was conducted in Lg1+ and lg1-R backgrounds to determine if Wab1 affects leaf development in a cell-autonomous manner. Normal tissue identity was restored in all wab1+/' sectors in a lg1-R mutant background, and in three quarters of sectors in a Lg1+ background. These results suggest that lg1 can influence the autonomy of Wab1. In both genotypes, leaf-halves with wab1+/' sectors were significantly wider than non-sectored leaf-halves, suggesting that Wab1 acts cell-autonomously to affect lateral growth. The mosaic analysis, lg1 expression data and comparison of mutant leaf shapes reveal previously unreported functions of lg1 in both normal leaf development and in the dominant Wab1 mutant.