NSF Award
2428162
Agricultural productivity is threatened by climate change and shrinking growing lands. Maize is the second largest cereal crop in the world, grown mostly for grain production. Climate change introduces more drought events, which delays maize silk growth. Maize silk is the stigmatic tissue in the female flower (ear) of maize that receives pollen leading to fertilization and seed setting. Maize carries separate male and female flowers in the same plant and so the timing of silk emergence and pollen shedding must be synchronized for high grain yield. Despite the importance, silk biology is a poorly explored area of scientific research. The research team has previously identified a new gene in silk biology opening an avenue to understand the molecular underpinnings of silk emergence. This project aims to uncover the molecular network underlying silk growth with an expectation that the knowledge gained will offer opportunities to manipulate silk growth to sustain yield under a changing climate, If successful, this study will generate groundbreaking knowledge and insights into silk growth that can be potentially used to remove manual detasseling and the associated labor and costs in ‘baby corn’ (a specialty corn delicacy) cultivation. With respect to outreach and training, the project will provide research training opportunities to undergraduate students and postdoctoral researchers. In addition, educational materials for teaching genetics will be developed for use in both traditional and online platforms.<br/><br/>Maize silk growth biology remains a poorly explored area of scientific research, despite its huge importance. This could be attributed to the rarity of genetic mutants in maize silk growth and development. For example, only a handful of genes have been described for silk initiation or senescence; by contrast, no genes have been described thus far on silk growth. Recent studies have identified a mutant in which silk growth is severely compromised but not fertility, thus representing a unique genetic pollination control system that is of high interest to baby corn breeders and unlike the already existing male sterility and gametophytic incompatible systems. This preliminary finding suggests that a single gene plays a major role in controlling silk growth and, as such, provides an avenue to unravel the molecular regulatory circuitry controlling silk growth in maize. The goal of this project is to provide a framework for the molecular pathway(s) underlying silk growth and to leverage this new information to optimize silk growth for a sustained high yield under a changing climate for baby corn production. Specific objectives include: (1) using interactomics and transcriptomics to uncover the genes and gene regulatory network underlying silk growth; and 2) evaluating the applicability of the newly identified mutation in baby corn breeding using haploid inducer mediated genome editing technology in Indian baby corn germplasm. All data and resources generated will be made available to public after publication and through public repositories.<br/><br/>This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
