AUTHOR=Takacs Elizabeth M., Suzuki Masaharu , Scanlon Michael J.

TITLE=Discolored1 (DSC1) is an ADP-Ribosylation Factor-GTPase Activating Protein Required to Maintain Differentiation of Maize Kernel Structures

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=3

YEAR=2012

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2012.00115

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2012.00115

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>The embryo and endosperm are the products of double fertilization and comprise the clonally distinct products of angiosperm seed development. Recessive mutations in the maize gene <italic>discolored1</italic> (<italic>dsc1</italic>) condition inviable seed that are defective in both embryo and endosperm development. Here, detailed phenotypic analyses illustrate that discolored mutant kernels are able to establish, but fail to maintain, differentiated embryo, and endosperm structures. Development of the discolored mutant embryo and endosperm is normal albeit delayed, prior to the abortion and subsequent degeneration of all differentiated kernel structures. Using a genomic fragment that was previously isolated by transposon tagging, the full length <italic>dsc1</italic> transcript is identified and shown to encode an ADP-ribosylation factor-GTPase activating protein (ARF-GAP) that co-localizes with the <italic>trans</italic>-Golgi network/early endosomes and the plasma membrane during transient expression assays in <italic>N. benthamiana</italic> leaves. DSC1 function during endomembrane trafficking and the maintenance of maize kernel differentiation is discussed.</p>