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Enhance Economic Opportunities for AgriculturalProducers
Maize Microarray Project: A Tool for Crop Research
and Improvement
Impact Nugget
A maize expression array containing 57,000 genes has been developed
and is being distributed to the worldwide maize research community;
so far 935 arrays have been sent to 27 research groups around the world,
where they are currently used in researching nitrogen utilization, root
growth underwater stress, seed development, photosynthesis, aluminum
stress in roots, maize ear and tassel development, and hybrid vigor.
Issue
Maize is one of the most economically important cereal crops and is
grown worldwide with cultivars that are adapted to a wide variety of
growing conditions and climates. Considerable interest exists in developing
optimal tools and technologies for global analysis of gene expression
in maize. These measurements can provide the basis not only for understanding
the ways in which regulation of gene expression controls plant development,
and responses of the plant to biotic and abiotic stimuli, but also for
the rational design of strategies to improve crop yield and quality.
What has been done?
In 2003 plant scientists from the University of Arizona and two other
research institutions won a three-year, $3.6 million grant to develop
a gene expression microarray for maize and develop an online relational
database (Zeamage) for curation and dissemination of all gene expression
data associated with the gene expression microarray. A maize expression
array containing 57,000 genes has been developed and is being distributed
to the worldwide maize research community using a cost-recovery model.
A project website (www.maizearray.org)
has been developed that contains all associated project information
and serves to house the Zeamage relational database, and allows access
to array data which has been deposited by array users. Additional tools
have been or will be developed that will assist array users in experimental
design and data analysis. Two workshops to train array users have been
held and a third is planned for May 8-13, 2005.
Impact
In the six months that maize expression arrays have been available to
the research community, a total of 935 arrays (in the form of slide
sets) have been sent to 27 research groups in the United States, England,
Mexico, Italy, China, and Switzerland. Maize expression arrays are being
used to study gene expression in a diverse group of research areas including
nitrogen utilization, root growth underwater stress, seed development,
photosynthesis, aluminum stress in roots, maize ear and tassel development,
and hybrid vigor. Data generated from these expression profiling experiments
will be available to all interested researchers immediately upon deposit
into the Zeamage database. Insights gained from this approach to understanding
gene expression will provide deeper insights to understanding maize
growth and development and may eventually lead to improvements in crop
productivity.
Funding
National Science Foundation Plant Genome Research Program
Contact
Vicki Chandler, Professor
Department of Plant Sciences
The University of Arizona
P.O. Box 210036
Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
Tel. (520) 626-8725, FAX (520) 621-7186
Email: chandler@ag.arizona.edu
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