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Science 2 December 1994:
Vol. 266. no. 5190, pp. 1501 - 1505
DOI: 10.1126/science.7985019
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Articles

Science, Vol 266, Issue 5190, 1501-1505
Copyright © 1994 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

The sex determination process in maize

SL Dellaporta and A Calderon-Urrea

Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8104.

Maize partitions the sexes into different flowers on the plant, a condition called monoecy, which facilitates outcrossing. Sex determination in maize is a complex process involving an interplay between genetic determinants, the environment, and hormones. Unisexuality of flowers is achieved by the process of selective arrest and abortion of the inappropriate organ primordia within a bisexual floral meristem. Floral organ abortion is associated with the degeneration of cells within an immature primordia. Masculinizing genes are required for gynoecial abortion, feminizing genes arrest stamen development, and both types also control secondary sexual traits involving morphological characteristics of floral tissues. Gibberellins, steroid-like plant hormones, appear to play a pivotal role in the stamen abortion process and the feminization of floral tissues.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
tasselseed1 Is a Lipoxygenase Affecting Jasmonic Acid Signaling in Sex Determination of Maize.
I. F. Acosta, H. Laparra, S. P. Romero, E. Schmelz, M. Hamberg, J. P. Mottinger, M. A. Moreno, and S. L. Dellaporta (2009)
Science 323, 262-265
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Over-expression of a zeatin O-glucosylation gene in maize leads to growth retardation and tasselseed formation.
A. Pineda Rodo, N. Brugiere, R. Vankova, J. Malbeck, J. M. Olson, S. C. Haines, R. C. Martin, J. E. Habben, D. W. S. Mok, and M. C. Mok (2008)
J. Exp. Bot. 59, 2673-2686
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Programmed cell death and tissue remodelling in plants.
A. H. L. A. N. Gunawardena (2008)
J. Exp. Bot. 59, 445-451
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Flowering and determinacy in maize.
E. Bortiri and S. Hake (2007)
J. Exp. Bot.
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Sex-Determining Mechanisms in Land Plants.
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PLANT CELL 16, S61-S71
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Inflorescence development in a new teosinte: Zea nicaraguensis (Poaceae).
A. R. Orr and M. D. Sundberg (2004)
Am. J. Botany 91, 165-173
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Programmed Cell Death Remodels Lace Plant Leaf Shape during Development.
A. H. L. A. N. Gunawardena, J. S. Greenwood, and N. G. Dengler (2004)
PLANT CELL 16, 60-73
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Combinatorial control of meristem identity in maize inflorescences.
N. J. Kaplinsky and M. Freeling (2003)
Development 130, 1149-1158
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The Development of Two Flanking SCAR Markers Linked to a Sex Determination Locus in Salix viminalis L.
L. E. Gunter, G. T. Roberts, K. Lee, F. W. Larimer, and G. A. Tuskan (2003)
J. Hered. 94, 185-189
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Transgenic Studies on the Involvement of Cytokinin and Gibberellin in Male Development.
S. Huang, R. E. Cerny, Y. Qi, D. Bhat, C. M. Aydt, D. D. Hanson, K. P. Malloy, and L. A. Ness (2003)
Plant Physiology 131, 1270-1282
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Expression Patterns and Mutant Phenotype of teosinte branched1 Correlate With Growth Suppression in Maize and Teosinte.
L. Hubbard, P. McSteen, J. Doebley, and S. Hake (2002)
Genetics 162, 1927-1935
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The indeterminate floral apex1 gene regulates meristem determinacy and identity in the maize inflorescence.
D. Laudencia-Chingcuanco and S. Hake (2002)
Development 129, 2629-2638
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Sex Determination in the Monoecious Species Cucumber Is Confined to Specific Floral Whorls.
M. M. Kater, J. Franken, K. J. Carney, L. Colombo, and G. C. Angenent (2001)
PLANT CELL 13, 481-493
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Floral development and the formation of unisexual spikelets in the Andropogoneae (Poaceae).
L. G. Le Roux and E. A. Kellogg (1999)
Am. J. Botany 86, 354-366
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Cell death and cell protection genes determine the fate of pistils in maize.
A Calderon-Urrea and S. Dellaporta (1999)
Development 126, 435-441
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Evidence for a common sex determination mechanism for pistil abortion in maize and in its wild relative Tripsacum.
D. Li, C. A. Blakey, C. Dewald, and S. L. Dellaporta (1997)
PNAS 94, 4217-4222
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Genetics and the Evolution of Plant Form: An Example from Maize.
J. Doebley and R.-L. Wang (1997)
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 62, 361-367
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