Differential display of mRNA between hybrid F_1 and its parental inbred lines in maize (Zea mays L.)

摘要

Heterosis is a universal biological phenomenon in living things. It has been utilized extensively in crop breeding, the improvement of fish and the breed of domestic animal for a long time. Great success has been achieved in practical production of the utilization of heterosis, but in theory, we have known little about the mechanism of heterosis. At the beginning of this century, Bruce et al. proposed the dominance hypothesis to explain the cause of heterosis development, and then Shull et al. postulated the superdominance to clarify the hereditary basis of heterosis. These hypotheses were only theoretical models; no experiment has been made to demonstrate it till now. Recently, Peng and Pardee developed an approach, named mRNA differential display,to distinguish mRNA in comparative studies. In search of the mechanism of heterosis development, we will use this method to analyze the differential expression of genes between hybrid F_1 and its parents. By means of comparison between gene expression products of hybrid F_1 and that of its parents, we will understand how genes express in different hereditary backgrounds (hybrid F_1 or its parents), and what genes relate to the formation of heterosis. On the basis of the knowledge, we will explore the relationship between heterosis and the structure and constituent of plant genome, and then verify the cause of resulting in heterosis in hereditary essence.