PNAS . . . The rebirth of a corn mutant--analyzes the dual regulation mechanism of corn G protein for development and immunity.

Maize is not only an important crop in China and the world, but also a model plant for genetics and developmental biology.the improvement of comprehensive yield of maize depends on the optimization of plant type and the improvement of disease resistance, which are regulated by development and immune signals respectively.therefore, exploring the balance between development regulation and immune response is an important topic in maize research field.recently, Professor Wu Qingyu, Institute of agricultural resources and agricultural regionalization, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Professor Xu Fang, School of life sciences, Shandong University, and Professor David Jackson, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory of the United States, published a research paper entitled "the maize heterotrophic G protein β subunit controls shoot merriment development and immune responses" online on PNAS.this study analyzed the dual regulation mechanism of maize signal switch molecule G protein on development and immune signal, and provided important theoretical basis for balancing development and immune response and improving comprehensive yield of maize.the shape of corn ear, including ear length and row number, directly affects the number of grains and unit yield.although the ear morphology and the number of grains are usually evaluated at the mature stage of the field, the morphology of the ear is determined by the programmed development of stem cells (inflorescence meristem) on the young panicle at the early stage of development.previous studies have shown that G protein, as an important signal switch molecule, plays an important role in regulating the development of plant meristem, but its molecular regulatory mechanism remains to be further elucidated.especially g β subunit, it is difficult to analyze the function of G β subunit in monocotyledons.this study first confirmed that the lethal effect of G β mutant was caused by autonomic immunity.because there is no lethal phenotype in Arabidopsis thaliana, the results suggest that there may be an immune pathway different from that of model plants in cereal crops.then, through genetic screening, the G β mutant of maize survived under a specific genetic background, and obtained a unique g β mutant with single amino acid mutation, which broke through the bottleneck of previous research and showed its developmental phenotype.more importantly, through association analysis, the researchers found that the gene was significantly associated with the number of rows per ear in maize.The lethality of Zmgb1CR mutants was suppressed in the CML103Based on unique genetic materials, molecular genetics, gene editing and cell biology were used to explore the regulation mechanism of G protein on inflorescence development and autonomic immunity from a new perspective, which not only helps to understand the important scientific problem of G protein signal transduction in plants, but also improves the balance of development and immunity in Maize and other cereals The comprehensive yield of crops provides theoretical guidance.the research team of Professor Yang Bing of the University of Missouri and Professor Eric Schmelz of the University of California, San Diego, as well as Dr. Liu Lei of lengquangang laboratory and Professor byoung IL JE of Pusan university of Korea also participated in the study.the research has been jointly funded by the national science and technology major projects, such as the cultivation of new varieties of genetically modified organisms, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the science and technology innovation project of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the young experts project of "Taishan Scholars" of Shandong Province, the "Qilu youth" project of Shandong University, and USDA, NSF, HFSP, etc. Article link: with recruitment information: Wu Qingyu, Institute of agricultural resources and agricultural regionalization, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, is now recruiting postdoctoral students to engage in research on Maize inflorescence development and efficient utilization of mineral elements. we will provide cutting-edge research directions and topics, a superior scientific research and international cooperation platform, and assist in applying for postdoctoral and National Natural Science Youth Fund to expand your career prospects. please send your resume to wuqingyu@caas.cn 。 at the same time, we also welcome graduate students with plant molecular genetics background to join our team. information of the research group: one associate researcher / researcher and two postdoctoral students are recruited for the Xufang research group of School of life sciences, Shandong University and Key Laboratory of plant development and environmental adaptation biology of the Ministry of education. They are engaged in the research on molecular mechanism of maize development and immune trade-off. If you are interested, please send your resume to fxu@sdu.edu.cn 。