Genome Variability

Site last published: 9/25/08 11:43 AM

Maize is probably the most diverse of all crop species. Unexpectedly large differences among haplotypes were first revealed in a comparison of the bz genomic regions of two different inbred lines, McC and B73. Retrotransposon clusters, which comprise most of the repetitive DNA in maize, varied markedly in make-up and location relative to the genes in the region and genic sequences, later shown to be carried by two helitron transposons, also differed between the inbreds. Thus, the allelic bz regions of these Corn Belt inbreds shared only a minority of the total sequence. To investigate further the variation caused by retrotransposons, helitrons, and other insertions, we have analyzed the organization of the bz genomic region in five additional cultivars selected because of their geographic and genetic diversity: the inbreds A188, CML258 and I137TN and the land races Coroico and NalTel.

This vertical comparison has revealed the existence of several new helitrons, new retrotransposons, members of every superfamily of DNA transposons, numerous MITEs, and novel insertions flanked at either end by TA repeats, which we call TAFTs (TA-flanked transposons). The extent of variation in the region is remarkable. In pairwise comparisons of eight bz haplotypes, the percentage of shared sequences ranges from 25% to 84%. Chimeric haplotypes were identified that combine retrotransposon clusters found in different haplotypes. We propose that recombination in the common gene space greatly amplifies the variability produced by the retrotransposition explosion in the maize ancestry, creating the heterogeneity in genome organization found in modern maize.

With the maize whole genome-sequencing project almost finished, we developed a HelitronFinder software to identify maize Helitrons in collaboration with Dr. Charles Du of Montclair State University. This will allow us to decipher the possible contribution of Helitrons in gene movement and assess the impact of differential Helitron activities on the evolution and organization of the maize genome.