
Tracking the Genetic Music to
the Ears of CornBy Marcia
Wood June 26, 1997An ear of corn is the end result of
flowering, ripening and other events orchestrated by thousands of plant genes.
Now scientists are learning what part a given gene plays--by silencing it. To discover--and possibly improve on--corns genetic sheet
music, scientists with USDAs
Agricultural Research Service have teamed with colleagues at
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.,
Johnston, Iowa. The company is a major developer and supplier of hybrid corn
seed. They want to discover the functions of certain corn genes recently found and
cloned by researchers with ARS and the
University of California at Berkeley.
ARS geneticist Sarah C. Hake leads the experiment. Their research has already
shown that one of the genes dictates how many flowers a corn plant forms. Rows
of these tiny flowers mature to form the kernels that make up ears of corn. The researchers work at the ARS/University of California at
Berkeley-operated Plant Gene
Expression Center in Albany, Calif. The investigation is being conducted
under a cooperative research and development agreement between ARS and Pioneer
Hi-Bred. The Albany scientists suspect that some of the other recently cloned genes
may also be key to corn's growth. Biotechnologists may be able to restructure
some of these genes to boost yields or enhance tomorrow's corn plants in other
ways. What they learn may help genetic engineers working on other farm and
garden crops. Pioneers scientists are using the company's proprietary "Trait
Utility System for Corn," or TUSC, to reveal the jobs the newly discovered
genes perform. TUSC relies on a tactic called loss-of-function strategy, in which a gene is
turned off in experimental plants. The turning-off is done by genes known as
jumping genes or transposons. They can land on another gene,
muffling its action and thus revealing its normal role. Loss-of-function ranks
among the fastest ways to reveal what a gene does. Scientific contact: Sarah Hake, Ph.D., USDA-ARS/University of
California at Berkeley Plant Gene Expression Center, 800 Buchanan St., Albany,
CA 94710, phone (510) 559-5907, fax (510) 559-5678,
[email protected]. Story contacts Sarah C Hake Marcia A Wood U.S. Department of Agriculture | |