18th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
DNA Sequence Diversity at an ANGUSTIFOLIA-like Gene among Inbred Lines and Open-pollinated Landraces of Maize
Ryan N. Douglas
Dr. Brent Buckner, Dr. Diane Janick-Buckner, and Dr. Patrick S. Schnable (Iowa State University), Faculty Mentors
The Arabidopsis ANGUSTIFOLIA (AN) gene, a homolog of the human C-terminal binding protein, encodes a protein that regulates the arrangement of cortical microtubules in epidermal and mesophyll cells, thereby influencing leaf morphology. Oligonucleotide primers were designed which during the polymerase chain reaction amplify a ~700bp genomic sequence that contained both intronic and exonic sequence. RT-PCR was performed on RNA isolated from 1 week-old seedling leaf tissue to demonstrate that this sequence is expressed in maize, and to confirm predicted intron/exon boundaries. The genomic sequence was cloned and sequenced from six North American inbred lines, five open-pollinated Mexican land races, and four open-pollinated land races from Native American Pueblos in New Mexico. The calculated values for silent-pi indicate that the Mexican land races show the most diversity at this locus. Interestingly, the open-pollinated New Mexican Pueblo lines exhibited slightly less sequence diversity than the North American inbred lines.
Keywords: Angustifolia, Maize, Genetics, Zea mays, Genetic diversity
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 29-65
Location: OP Lobby & Atrium
Time: 1:15