Control of maize development by microRNA and auxin regulated pathways

Abstract

Plant architecture and inflorescence architecture, in particular, are major determinates of yield. Plant architecture is dependent upon the activity of meristems. Meristems are vital to plant development because they not only maintain groups of undifferentiated cells, but they also produce cells that differentiate to give rise to new organs. This process is called organogenesis. The pattern and timing of organogenesis is a major contributor to plant architecture. The plant hormone auxin plays a major role in determining organogenesis. Auxin regulates position and number of primordia that form on the flanks of a meristem. Certain transcriptions factors have been found to effect leaf morphology such as TCP transcriptions factors. To better understand the genetic pathways that regulate inflorescence architecture I characterized single, double, and triple mutants from Zea mays.