Quantification of dominance for proteins pleiotropically affected by opaque-2 in maize

• Published in: Heredity Vol. 70; no. 1; pp. 38 - 51
• Main Authors: DAMERVAL, C, DE VIENNE, D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing 1993; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Classical genetics, quantitative genetics, hybrids; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Life Sciences; Pteridophyta, spermatophyta; Vegetals; Zea mays; Gene dosage; Monocotyledones; Storage protein; Zea mays; Gene product; Quantitative character; Pleiotropy; Gramineae; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Two dimensional electrophoresis; Transcription factor; Quantitative analysis; GENETIQUE
• ISSN: 0018-067X; 1365-2540; 0018-067X
• DOI: 10.1038/hdy.1993.6

The maize opaque-2 (o2) mutation is known to have numerous pleiotropic effects. Using two different genetic backgrounds, endosperm proteins from isogenic lines of the o2 locus and their reciprocal hybrids were compared by high-resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-D PAGE), and the 2-D gels stained with Coomassie blue or silver were analysed using a computer-assisted system for quantification of polypeptide spots. The aim of this work was (i) to identify polypeptides, the amount of which is affected by the single gene substitution, and (ii) to assess the dominance relations for every affected polypeptide. This is an example where pleiotropically related characters display different inheritance, which could generate heterozygous phenotypes with original properties as compared to their homozygous parents. Because O2 belongs to the basic region-leucine zipper family of transcription activators, our results show that 2-D PAGE of isogenic lines represents a straightforward method to identify gene products affected by a transcription factor, whether they are products of its target genes, or products indirectly affected by far-reaching effects. This is a prerequisite to understanding the multiple molecular and physiological consequences of the action of such factors.