Biological sources of non-isoprenoid hydrocarbons are near ideal drop-in replacements for current petroleum-derived fuels. Maize silks are an excellent model system for the fine-scale elucidation of the currently undefined metabolic network responsible for hydrocarbon production. The silk cuticle is particularly abundant in hydrocarbons of 19-35 carbon atoms. In addition, these complex arrays of hydrocarbons differ among maize genotypes and during silk development, suggesting complex genetic interactions in the regulation of this metabolic network. To dissect this network, we have taken advantage of the differences in hydrocarbon profiles between two inbred maize lines, B73 and Mo17, to probe a B73xMo17 genetic mapping population of 660 lines. We have identified genomic regions (quantitative trait loci) that regulate total hydrocarbon accumulation and regions that affect final abundance of individual constituents. Combined with transcriptomic analyses from two stages of silk development, these approaches are providing candidate genes involved in the synthesis of hydrocarbons.

Dissecting the metabolic network associated with hydrocarbon synthesis using maize silks as a model system

244th National Meeting (2012)

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