31st Annual Student Research Conference
The Evolutionary History and Transcriptomic Analysis of The Phytoene Synthase Gene Family and Related Paralogs In Maize.
Megan N. Neveau
Dr. Brent Buckner and Dr. Diane Janick-Buckner, Faculty Mentors
In plants carotenoids are yellow-orange pigments that protect chlorophyll from photooxidation and serve as accessory light harvesting pigments. The phytoene synthase (psy) gene family encodes enzymes that catalyze the condensation of two molecules of geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate into phytoene, which is the first committed step in carotenoid biosynthesis. In maize, phytoene synthase is encoded by three subfunctionalized genes psy1, psy2 and psy3 that have been well characterized. The maize genome database identifies an additional 5 gene models as phytoene synthase. Our phylogenetic and bioinformatics analyses do not support annotating these 5 gene models as phytoene synthase. Using publicly available RNASeq data sets, we analyzed the expression of psy1, psy2 and psy3 as well as the other gene family members in various tissues and inbred maize lines. Significant differences in the expression of psy genes among the inbred lines and tissues were identified.
Keywords: Maize, Phytoene Synthase, Gene Expression
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 3-3
Location: GEO - SUB
Time: 3:30