Zea mays Transcriptome or Gene expression

Both male and female gametophytes play central roles in sexual plant reproduction. Furthermore, a hallmark of the plant life cycle is that gene expression is required in the haploid gametophytes, as many mutant phenotypes are expressed in this phase, affecting transmission of the mutant allele to the next generation. However, the relative inaccessibility of the female gametophyte has limited the availability of genome-scale data on this structure. We have taken advantage of the relatively large size of the maize female gametophyte to sequence triplicate replicated RNA-Seq libraries using the Illumina platform from dissected B73 embryo sacs, comparator ovules, mature pollen (the male gametophyte) and seedlings (as a baseline sporophytic comparison). Analysis of these data identi ed a set of several thousand empirically-predicted transcript-producing loci that show significant enrichment in gametophytic samples. There appears to be a high potential for gene discovery within these data sets.

12