Structural Variation at the Maize wuschel1 Locus Alters Stem Cell Organization in Inflorescences

Purpose: The goal of this study is to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in immature ears between Barren inflorescence3 (Bif3) mutant and its wild-type siblings in maize. Methods: the 3-4 mm ear primordia of maize wild-type and Bif3 mutant were dissected from maize plant at the reproductive stage, and samples were snap freeze using liquid nitrogen. The total RNAs were prepared using RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen). All those RNA samples of wild-type and Bif3 mutant were submitted for RNA-Seq. Conclusions: Our RNA-seq experiments identified 1380 up- and 242 down-regulated genes (P < 0.05, FDR < 0.1, fold-change > 1.5). Overall design: RNA-seq was performed on 3-4mm WT and Bif3 mutant maize ear primordia