The Genetics and Biochemistry of Maize Zein Storage Proteins

Boston, Rebecca S.

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-77863-1_36

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 103 publications

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“…Zein proteins contain only a few charged amino acids and as a consequence have a hydrophobic nature and thus are insoluble in water. Solubility and chemical structure are important because they define and influence processing and manufacturing of food and feed [15].…”

Section: Zein Amino Acid Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen Storage in Crops: Case Study of Zeins in Maize

Duvnjak¹,

Kljak²,

Grbeša³

2021

Nitrogen in Agriculture - Physiological, Agricultural and Ecological Aspects [Working Title]

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Crop grains accumulate significant amounts of nitrogen in the form of storage proteins. Grain storage proteins are not only important in the aspects of germination but also, storage proteins are a valuable food source in human and animal nutrition. This chapter will give insight into genotype and growing conditions influencing the quantity and quality of storage proteins, primarily maize storage proteins the leading cereal by world production. Main storage proteins in cereals are prolamins, and in maize prolamins are called zeins located within the endosperm in protein agglomerations called protein bodies. Four main classes of zein proteins are: alpha, beta, gamma and delta zein. Each of four zein classes has a distinctive position and role within protein bodies. Prolamin proteins define nutritional value of maize grain not only via amino acid quality but also via starch availability. Starch, the most important energy component of maize grain, is located within starch-protein matrix. Within this matrix, starch granules are surrounded by protein bodies that limit starch availability. In this chapter, we will describe how zein proteins influence characteristics of maize grain and nutritional value of maize.

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Section: Zein Amino Acid Structurementioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen Storage in Crops: Case Study of Zeins in Maize

Duvnjak¹,

Kljak²,

Grbeša³

2021

Nitrogen in Agriculture - Physiological, Agricultural and Ecological Aspects [Working Title]

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The transcription factors ZmNAC128 and ZmNAC130 coordinate with Opaque2 to promote endosperm filling in maize

Chen

et al. 2023

The Plant Cell

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Endosperm filling in maize (Zea mays), which involves nutrient uptake and biosynthesis of storage reserves, largely determines grain yield and quality. However, much remains unclear about the synchronization of these processes. Here, we comprehensively investigated the functions of duplicate NAC-type transcription factors, namely ZmNAC128 and ZmNAC130, in endosperm filling. The gene-edited double mutant zmnac128 zmnac130 exhibits a poorly filled kernel phenotype such that the kernels have an inner cavity. RNA sequencing and protein abundance analysis revealed that the expression of many genes involved in the biosynthesis of zein and starch is reduced in the filling endosperm of zmnac128 zmnac130. Further DNA affinity purification and sequencing combined with chromatin-immunoprecipitation quantitative PCR and promoter transactivation assays demonstrated that ZmNAC128 and ZmNAC130 are direct regulators of three (16-, 27-, and 50-kD) γ-zein genes and six important starch metabolism genes (Brittle2 [Bt2], pullulanase-type starch debranching enzyme [Zpu1], granule-bound starch synthase 1 [GBSS1], starch synthase 1 [SS1], starch synthase IIa [SSIIa], and sucrose synthase 1 [Sus1]). ZmNAC128 and ZmNAC130 recognize an additional cis-element in the Opaque2 (O2) promoter to regulate its expression. The triple mutant zmnac128 zmnac130 o2 exhibits extremely poor endosperm filling, which results in more than 70% of kernel weight loss. ZmNAC128 and ZmNAC130 regulate the expression of the transporter genes sugars will eventually be exported transporter 4c (ZmSWEET4C), sucrose and glucose carrier 1 (ZmSUGCAR1), and yellow stripe-like2 (ZmYSL2) and in turn facilitate nutrient uptake, while O2 plays a supporting role. In conclusion, ZmNAC128 and ZmNAC130 cooperate with O2 to facilitate endosperm filling, which involves nutrient uptake in the basal endosperm transfer layer (BETL) and the synthesis of zeins and starch in starchy endosperm (SE).

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Multiomics approach reveals a role of translational machinery in shaping maize kernel amino acid composition

et al. 2021

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Maize (Zea mays) seeds are a good source of protein, despite being deficient in several essential amino acids. However, eliminating the highly abundant but poorly balanced seed storage proteins has revealed that the regulation of seed amino acids is complex and does not rely on only a handful of proteins. In this study, we used two complementary omics-based approaches to shed light on the genes and biological processes that underlie the regulation of seed amino acid composition. We first conducted a genome-wide association study to identify candidate genes involved in the natural variation of seed protein-bound amino acids. We then used weighted gene correlation network analysis to associate protein expression with seed amino acid composition dynamics during kernel development and maturation. We found that almost half of the proteome was significantly reduced during kernel development and maturation, including several translational machinery components such as ribosomal proteins, which strongly suggests translational reprogramming. The reduction was significantly associated with a decrease in several amino acids, including lysine and methionine, pointing to their role in shaping the seed amino acid composition. When we compared the candidate gene lists generated from both approaches, we found a nonrandom overlap of 80 genes. A functional analysis of these genes showed a tight interconnected cluster dominated by translational machinery genes, especially ribosomal proteins, further supporting the role of translation dynamics in shaping seed amino acid composition. These findings strongly suggest that seed biofortification strategies that target the translation machinery dynamics should be considered and explored further.

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The Genetics and Biochemistry of Maize Zein Storage Proteins

Cited by 3 publications

References 103 publications

Nitrogen Storage in Crops: Case Study of Zeins in Maize

Nitrogen Storage in Crops: Case Study of Zeins in Maize

The transcription factors ZmNAC128 and ZmNAC130 coordinate with Opaque2 to promote endosperm filling in maize

Multiomics approach reveals a role of translational machinery in shaping maize kernel amino acid composition

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