Transcriptome analysis of early-developing maize (Zea mays) seed was conducted using Illumina sequencing. We mapped 11,074,508 and 11,495,788 paired-end reads from endosperm and embryo, respectively, at 9 d after pollination to define gene structure and alternative splicing events as well as transcriptional regulators of gene expression to quantify transcript abundance in both embryo and endosperm. We identified a large number of novel transcribed regions that did not fall within maize annotated regions, and many of the novel transcribed regions were tissue-specifically expressed. We found that 50.7% (8,556 of 16,878) of multiexonic genes were alternatively spliced, and some transcript isoforms were specifically expressed either in endosperm or in embryo. In addition, a total of 46 trans-splicing events, with nine intrachromosomal events and 37 interchromosomal events, were found in our data set. Many metabolic activities were specifically assigned to endosperm and embryo, such as starch biosynthesis in endosperm and lipid biosynthesis in embryo. Finally, a number of transcription factors and imprinting genes were found to be specifically expressed in embryo or endosperm. This data set will aid in understanding how embryo/endosperm development in maize is differentially regulated.Maize (Zea mays) seeds are one of the most important crop materials that provide resources for food, feed, biofuel, and raw material for processing. Maize seed development initiates from double fertilization, in which two of the pollen sperms fuse with an egg cell and a central cell to produce embryo and endosperm, respectively (Randolph, 1936;Chaudhury et al., 2001). The main function of endosperm is to provide nutrient for the developing embryo and germinating embryo.After fertilization, the zygote undergoes an asymmetric division into a small apical cell and a large basal cell, giving rise to the embryo proper and the suspensor, respectively. The radial symmetry of the proembryo is shifted to a bilateral symmetry at the transition stage, which is characterized by protoderm formation. The shoot apical meristem and the root apical meristem can be distinguished at the onset of the coleoptile stage, and then the position of the future coleoptile is marked by a small protuberance. The mature embryo is composed of the embryo axis, which is formed by the plumule with five or six short internodes, and leaf primordia and primary root surrounded by the coleoptile and the coleorhiza, respectively, and the scutellum (Randolph, 1936;Abbe and Stein, 1954;Diboll, 1968;Lammeren, 1986;Vernoud et al., 2005).Maize endosperm follows the nucleus-type endosperm development, where the fertilized central cell undergoes several rounds of synchronous division in the absence of cell wall formation and cytokinesis to produce a syncytium (Lopes and Larkins, 1993;Olsen, 2004). Cellularization allows the formation of the internuclear radial microtubule systems and open-ended alveolation from the periphery of the endosperm toward the central vacuole (Olsen et al., ...

In the insect phylum, the relationships between individuals and their environment are often modulated by chemical communication. Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are widely and robustly expressed in insect olfactory organs and play a key role in chemosensing and transporting hydrophobic odorants across the sensillum lymph to the olfactory receptor neuron. In this study, a novel OBP gene (AlinOBP1) in the lucerne plant bug, Adelphocoris lineolatus was identified, cloned and expressed. Real-time PCR results indicated that the expression level of AlinOBP1 gene differed in each developmental stage (from first instar to adult) and was predominantly expressed in the antennae of adults. The expression level of AlinOBP1 was 1.91 times higher in male antennae than in female antennae. The binding properties of AlinOBP1 with 114 odorants were measured using a fluorescence probe, N-phenyl-1-naphthylamine (1-NPN), with fluorescence competitive binding. The results revealed that AlinOBP1 exhibits high binding abilities with two major putative pheromone components, ethyl butyrate and trans-2-hexenyl butyrate. In addition, it was observed that six volatiles released from cotton, octanal, nonanal, decanal, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, b-caryophyllene and b-ionone also bind to AlinOBP1. Immunocytochemistry analysis showed that AlinOBP1 was expressed in the sensillum lymph of sensilla trichodica and sensilla basiconca. Our results demonstrate that AlinOBP1 may function as a carrier in the chemoperception of the lucerne plant bug. C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

No abstract