Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2019
Abstract
The phenological responses of corn (Zea mays L.) to competition with increasing densities of winter canola (Brassica napus L.) as the weedy competitor were investigated. Changes in the corn transcriptome resulting from varying weed densities were used to identify genes and processes responsive to competition under controlled conditions where light, nutrients, and water were not limited. Increasing densities of weeds resulted in decreased corn growth and development and increased the number and expression intensity of competition-responsive genes. The physiological processes identified in corn that were consistently induced by competition with weeds included protein synthesis and various transport functions. Likewise, numerous genes involved in these processes, as well as several genes implicated in phytochrome signaling and defense responses, were noted as differentially expressed. The results obtained in this study, conducted under controlled (greenhouse) conditions, were compared with a previously published study where the response of corn to competition with other species was evaluated under field conditions. Approximately one-third of the genes were differentially expressed in response to competition under both field and controlled conditions. These competition-responsive genes represent a resource for investigating the signaling processes by which corn recognizes and responds to competition. These results also highlight specific physiological processes that might be targets for mitigating the response of crops to weeds or other competitive plants under field conditions.
Publication Title
The Plant Genome
Volume
12
Issue
3
DOI of Published Version
10.3835/plantgenome2019.05.0035
Publisher
Crop Science Society of America
Rights
© 2019 The Author(s)
Recommended Citation
Horvath, David P.; Clay, Sharon A.; Bruggeman, Stephanie A.; Anderson, James V.; Chao, Wun S.; and Yeater, Kathleen, "Varying Weed Densities Alter the Corn Transcriptome, Highlighting a Core Set of Weed-Induced Genes and Processes with Potential for Manipulating Weed Tolerance" (2019). Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science Faculty Publications. 305.
https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/plant_faculty_pubs/305
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.