Boundary domain genes were recruited to suppress bract growth and promote branching in maize

Abstract

Grass inflorescence development is diverse and complex and involves sophisticated but poorly understood interactions of genes regulating branch determinacy and leaf growth. Here, we use a combination of transcript profiling and genetic and phylogenetic analyses to investigate <i>tasselsheath1</i> (<i>tsh1</i>) and <i>tsh4</i>, two maize genes that simultaneously suppress inflorescence leaf growth and promote branching. We identify a regulatory network of inflorescence leaf suppression that involves the phase change gene <i>tsh4</i> upstream of <i>tsh1</i> and the ligule identity gene <i>liguleless2</i> (<i>lg2</i>). We also find that a series of duplications in the <i>tsh1</i> gene lineage facilitated its shift from boundary domain in nongrasses to suppressed inflorescence leaves of grasses. Collectively, these results suggest that the boundary domain genes <i>tsh1</i> and <i>lg2</i> were recruited to inflorescence leaves where they suppress growth and regulate a nonautonomous signaling center that promotes inflorescence branching, an important component of yield in cereal grasses.