Fig. 4: Expression patterns of genes involved in trehalose metabolisms and sugar levels.
From: Siblicide between fertilized and unfertilized ovaries within the maize ear
a At 28 HAP, the genes encoding TPS and TPP, which facilitating the synthesis of T6P and converting T6P into trehalose, were suppressed and promoted, respectively, in the HNP ovaries compared with NP ovaries. Whereas, at both 28 and 96 HAP, the TPS genes were significantly promoted in the HP grains compared with the CP grains. The absolute values of TPM in brackets represent the range between the minimum and maximum values of the gene in all treatments during that period. The fold change (FC) represents the ratio of the change in TPM value for each comparison. b–e The levels of endogenous sugars, including glucose, fructose, sucrose, and starch. Note that the levels of hexoses and sucrose were reduced in HNP ovaries at 28 or 96 HAP, but were significantly promoted in HP grains, compared with their controls. Values are mean with standard error. Student’s t-test, n = 3. Significant differences are indicated by asterisks, *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001; ns no significance, HAP hours after pollination, NP non-pollinated ovaries, CP completely pollinated ovaries, HP half pollinated ovaries, HNP half non-pollinated ovaries, SUS sucrose synthase, TPS trehalose 6-phosphate synthase, TPP trehalose 6-phosphate phosphatase, T6P trehalose 6-phosphate, TPS trehalose.
