Figures
Maize plant demonstrating the anther pigment phenotype of a mutation that prevents paramutation, a heritable RNA-mediated gene-silencing process.
Research Articles by Sidorenko et al. and Stonaker et al. in this issue of PLoS Genetics demonstrate that mutations in NRPD2/E2a similar to Arabidopsis NRPD2/E2, the second largest subunit of plant-specific RNA polymerases IV and V, prevent paramutation at multiple loci. In contrast to the single gene in Arabidopsis, maize has three full-length genes with overlapping expression patterns, suggesting maize may have a greater diversification of these gene-silencing pathways. Craig Pikaard's Perspective highlights key findings and open questions. These articles coincide with the publication of the 2009 Maize Genome Collection, which is based on the first description of the B73 maize genome.
Image Credit: Lyudmila Sidorenko (School of Plant Sciences, Bio5, University of Arizona, United States of America)
Citation: (2009) PLoS Genetics Issue Image | Vol. 5(11) November 2009. PLoS Genet 5(11): ev05.i11. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pgen.v05.i11
Published: November 26, 2009
Copyright: © 2009 Sidorenko et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Research Articles by Sidorenko et al. and Stonaker et al. in this issue of PLoS Genetics demonstrate that mutations in NRPD2/E2a similar to Arabidopsis NRPD2/E2, the second largest subunit of plant-specific RNA polymerases IV and V, prevent paramutation at multiple loci. In contrast to the single gene in Arabidopsis, maize has three full-length genes with overlapping expression patterns, suggesting maize may have a greater diversification of these gene-silencing pathways. Craig Pikaard's Perspective highlights key findings and open questions. These articles coincide with the publication of the 2009 Maize Genome Collection, which is based on the first description of the B73 maize genome.
Image Credit: Lyudmila Sidorenko (School of Plant Sciences, Bio5, University of Arizona, United States of America)