The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel development

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a globally significant crop essential for food, feed, and bioenergy production. The maize kernel, serving as a primary sink for starch, proteins, lipids, and essential micronutrients, is crucial for enhancing maize yield and quality. Previous studies have established the criti...

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Main Authors: Jing Yang, Shengnan Liu, Zhen Lin, Ning Song, Xiaomei Dong, Jinsheng Lai, Weibin Song, Zhijia Yang, Jian Chen, Qiujie Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2025-04-01
Series:Crop Journal
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514125000534
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author Jing Yang
Shengnan Liu
Zhen Lin
Ning Song
Xiaomei Dong
Jinsheng Lai
Weibin Song
Zhijia Yang
Jian Chen
Qiujie Liu
author_facet Jing Yang
Shengnan Liu
Zhen Lin
Ning Song
Xiaomei Dong
Jinsheng Lai
Weibin Song
Zhijia Yang
Jian Chen
Qiujie Liu
author_sort Jing Yang
collection DOAJ
description Maize (Zea mays L.) is a globally significant crop essential for food, feed, and bioenergy production. The maize kernel, serving as a primary sink for starch, proteins, lipids, and essential micronutrients, is crucial for enhancing maize yield and quality. Previous studies have established the critical role of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) in regulating kernel development. In this study, we applied a reverse genetics approach to investigate the role of ZmFIE1, the homolog of the PRC2 complex component Extra sex combs (Esc), in maize development. The functional loss of ZmFIE1 significantly reduces embryo size in the early stage but has a relatively small impact on mature kernels. Integrating transcriptional and metabolomic profiling suggests that ZmFIE1 is involved in regulating nutrient balance between the endosperm and embryo. In addition, we demonstrate that ZmFIE1 is maternally expressed, and that the maternal inheritance of the fie1 allele significantly affects the imprinting status of paternally imprinted genes. Overall, our results suggest that ZmFIE1 is a key gene involved in the modulation of embryo development via regulating genomic imprinting and nutrient balance between embryo and endosperm, which provides new insights into the regulation mechanism underlying kernel development.
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spelling doaj-art-3dc2fcc4ffce4cfa8582b0391ce892a82025-08-20T02:15:41ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Crop Journal2214-51412025-04-0113239540510.1016/j.cj.2025.02.002The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel developmentJing Yang0Shengnan Liu1Zhen Lin2Ning Song3Xiaomei Dong4Jinsheng Lai5Weibin Song6Zhijia Yang7Jian Chen8Qiujie Liu9Frontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, Liaoning, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University, Sanya 572025, Hainan, China; Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Sanya 572025, Hainan, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Sanya Institute of China Agricultural University, Sanya 572025, Hainan, China; Hainan Yazhou Bay Seed Laboratory, Sanya 572025, Hainan, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaFrontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Corresponding authors.Frontiers Science Center for Molecular Design Breeding, State Key Laboratory of Maize Bio-breeding, National Maize Improvement Center, Department of Plant Genetics and Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China; Corresponding authors.Maize (Zea mays L.) is a globally significant crop essential for food, feed, and bioenergy production. The maize kernel, serving as a primary sink for starch, proteins, lipids, and essential micronutrients, is crucial for enhancing maize yield and quality. Previous studies have established the critical role of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) in regulating kernel development. In this study, we applied a reverse genetics approach to investigate the role of ZmFIE1, the homolog of the PRC2 complex component Extra sex combs (Esc), in maize development. The functional loss of ZmFIE1 significantly reduces embryo size in the early stage but has a relatively small impact on mature kernels. Integrating transcriptional and metabolomic profiling suggests that ZmFIE1 is involved in regulating nutrient balance between the endosperm and embryo. In addition, we demonstrate that ZmFIE1 is maternally expressed, and that the maternal inheritance of the fie1 allele significantly affects the imprinting status of paternally imprinted genes. Overall, our results suggest that ZmFIE1 is a key gene involved in the modulation of embryo development via regulating genomic imprinting and nutrient balance between embryo and endosperm, which provides new insights into the regulation mechanism underlying kernel development.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514125000534ZmFIE1Embryo sizeMaternally expressed imprinted geneNutrient metabolism
spellingShingle Jing Yang
Shengnan Liu
Zhen Lin
Ning Song
Xiaomei Dong
Jinsheng Lai
Weibin Song
Zhijia Yang
Jian Chen
Qiujie Liu
The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel development
Crop Journal
ZmFIE1
Embryo size
Maternally expressed imprinted gene
Nutrient metabolism
title The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel development
title_full The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel development
title_fullStr The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel development
title_full_unstemmed The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel development
title_short The role of imprinted gene ZmFIE1 during maize kernel development
title_sort role of imprinted gene zmfie1 during maize kernel development
topic ZmFIE1
Embryo size
Maternally expressed imprinted gene
Nutrient metabolism
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514125000534
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