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GENETICS, GENOMICS, AND MOLECULAR EVOLUTION

Cloning and Characterization of GLOSSY1, a Maize Gene Involved in Cuticle Membrane and Wax Production^1,[w]

Istituto Sperimentale per la Cerealicoltura, Sezione di Bergamo, 24126 Bergamo, Italy (M.S., H.H., M.M.); and Max-Planck Institut für Züchtungsforschung, D–50829 Cologne, Germany (E.S., R.V., F.S.)

The cuticle covering the aerial organs of land plants plays a protective role against several biotic and abiotic stresses and, in addition, participates in a variety of plant-insect interactions. Here, we describe the molecular cloning and characterization of the maize (Zea mays) GLOSSY1 (GL1) gene, a component of the pathway leading to cuticular wax biosynthesis in seedling leaves. The genomic and cDNA sequences we isolated differ significantly in length and in most of the coding region from those previously identified. The predicted GL1 protein includes three histidine-rich domains, the landmark of a family of membrane-bound desaturases/hydroxylases, including fatty acid-modifying enzymes. GL1 expression is not restricted to the juvenile developmental stage of the maize plant, pointing to a broader function of the gene product than anticipated on the basis of the mutant phenotype. Indeed, in addition to affecting cuticular wax biosynthesis, gl1 mutations have a pleiotropic effect on epidermis development, altering trichome size and impairing cutin structure. Of the many wax biosynthetic genes identified so far, only a few from Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) were found to be essential for normal cutin formation. Among these is WAX2, which shares 62% identity with GL1 at the protein level. In wax2-defective plants, cutin alterations induce postgenital organ fusion. This trait is not displayed by gl1 mutants, suggesting a different role of the maize and Arabidopsis cuticle in plant development.

^[w] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.

Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.104.058164.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail motto{at}iscbg.it; fax 39–035–31–60–54.

Received December 15, 2004; returned for revision February 9, 2005; accepted February 9, 2005.

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