LAUSR

The maize kernel contains two filial products of the double fertilization, wherein one of the two sperm cells (1C, the DNA content of a haploid genome) from a pollen grain fertilizes the egg (1C) to form the zygote and the other sperm fuses with the central cell (2C) to produce the primary endosperm. The zygote (2C) undergoes a series of asymmetric and symmetric divisions and axial patterning, eventually differentiating into the embryo containing the shoot/root apexes, the mesocotyl, and the scutellum, whereas the primary endosperm (3C) requires multiple developmental processes including coenocyte formation, cellularization, cell mitotic division and differentiation, endoduplication and cell expansion, and maturation followed by programmed cell death. For human beings, the most important aspect of maize kernel is its function as a storage organ for starch, proteins and oil, which provide abundant calories and nutrients and therefore economic value for agricultural production. However, sufficient storage filling relies on proper gene expression and regulation throughout maize kernel development, particularly during early seed development (Larkins 2017). An essential research perspective for this is to understand dynamic gene expression pattern at an in-depth genome-wide level. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.