Vanishing tassel2 gene in corn sheds light on hormone production in plants

 

A corn plant lacking the gene vanishing tassel2 or vt2 is an unpleasant sight to farmers. However, an article in Science Daily discusses studies about the plant which helped to reveal some interesting facts about the role genetics play in hormone production and how these hormones affect plant growth and development.  Paula Mcsteen, a professor at MU, is leading the study.

The disfigured plants were found to be lacking the vt2 gene, which codes for an enzyme, tryptophan aminotransferase. This enzyme in turn plays a crucial role in the production of the plant hormone Auxin. Auxin plays a crucial role in the development of corn plants and their organs (organogenesis). Corn plants lacking the vt2 gene were found to produce lower levels of auxin, thus linking the missing gene with their deformed shapes.  Another gene involved in the production of auxin in the plants is sparse inflorescence1 or sp1. Previously, genes similar to vt2 and sp1 were thought to work independently of eachother in plants to produce auxin. However, Mcsteen's research has found that whether a corn plant lacked both genes or lacked only the vt2 gene auxin production was the same (decreased amount) in each. This suggests that sp1 and vt2 work together to produce auxin as opposed to independently. This is new information about a topic that, the article states, remains unknown despite over a century of research.