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Updated: Jul 2, 2026

Imaging and Analysis for Quantifying Maize (Zea mays) Abiotic Stress Phenotypes

Imaging and Analysis for Quantifying Maize (Zea mays) Abiotic Stress Phenotypes

Published on: March 28, 2025

Microarray analysis of vegetative phase change in maize.

Josh Strable¹, Lisa Borsuk, Dan Nettleton

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.

The Plant Journal : for Cell and Molecular Biology

|September 4, 2008

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Maize plants undergo vegetative phase change, transitioning from juvenile to adult stages. Gene expression analysis reveals photosynthesis genes are upregulated in juvenile maize, preparing plants for early energy production.

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Published on: June 16, 2018

Area of Science:

Plant Biology
Developmental Biology
Molecular Genetics

Background:

Vegetative phase change is crucial for plant development, marking the transition from juvenile to adult phases.
This transition enables plants to become competent for sexual reproduction and is associated with altered vegetative organ differentiation.
In maize, juvenile and adult leaves exhibit distinct morphological, anatomical, and cell wall composition differences.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying vegetative phase change in maize.
To compare gene expression patterns between juvenile and adult maize leaf primordia.
To identify genes associated with the developmental transition in maize.

Main Methods:

Utilized cDNA microarrays to compare gene expression profiles.
Analyzed gene expression in juvenile leaf samples (leaf 4 and culture-derived leaves 3 or 4) against an adult sample (leaf 9).
Identified 'phase induced' genes with at least a twofold change in expression (P-value < 0.005).

Main Results:

Identified 221 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) upregulated in juvenile maize and 28 ESTs upregulated in adults.
The largest category of juvenile-induced genes were involved in photosynthesis.
Demonstrated that maize meristems can revert to forming juvenile organs when cultured from adult plants.

Conclusions:

Vegetative phase change in maize involves significant alterations in gene expression.
Photosynthesis-related genes are developmentally induced early in maize vegetative growth.
This study provides insights into the molecular basis of phase change and early plant development.