18th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Genetic Diversity at the Stowaway-containing y1 Locus of Maize and Teosinte
Emily C. Dunn
Dr. Brent Buckner, Faculty Mentor
A Stowaway transposable element, which is present in the upstream region of the y1 gene, was amplified and sequenced from Zea mays ssp. parviglumis, Zea mays ssp. mexicana, Zea luxurians, Zea perennis and Zea diploperennis. We demonstrate that Stowaway is present in this location in multiple accessions of all of the Zea taxa investigated. Thus, it appears that Stowaway transposed into the upstream region of the y1 gene in the common ancestor of these Zea taxa. Silent π values indicate that the Stowaway transposable element exhibits 4-fold greater sequence diversity than the flanking y1 sequence. Thus, this Stowaway transposable element appears to be experiencing sequence changes at a greater rate than the flanking DNA in which it is inserted. In addition, the sequences generated in this study were compared to 75 orthologous Zea mays ssp. mays y1 sequences previously compiled by Palaisa et al. (2003). The sequence diversity at this locus within Zea mays ssp. mays is far less than that present in the other Zea taxa.
Keywords: teosinte, maize, diversity, y1, transposable, element, Zea, mays
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 29-67
Location: OP Lobby & Atrium
Time: 1:15