PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ana Laura Alonso-Nieves
AU  - M. Nancy Salazar-Vidal
AU  - J. Vladimir Torres-Rodríguez
AU  - Ricardo A. Chávez Montes
AU  - Leonardo M. Pérez-Vázquez
AU  - Julio A. Massange-Sánchez
AU  - C. Stewart Gillmor
AU  - Ruairidh J. H. Sawers
TI  - The <em>pho1;2a’-m1.1</em> allele of <em>Phosphate1</em> conditions mis-regulation of the phosphorus starvation response in maize (<em>Zea mays</em> ssp. <em>mays</em> L.)
AID  - 10.1101/2022.03.10.483828
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2022.03.10.483828
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/03/12/2022.03.10.483828.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/03/12/2022.03.10.483828.full
AB  - PHO1 proteins play a central role in plant inorganic phosphorus translocation and sensing. The maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) genome encodes two co-orthologs of the Arabidopsis PHO1 gene, designated ZmPho1;2a and ZmPho1;2b. Here, we report the characterization of the transposon-footprint allele Zmpho1;2a’-m1.1, which we refer to hereafter as pho1;2a. The pho1;2a allele is a stable derivative formed by excision of an Activator element from the ZmPho1;2a gene. The pho1;2a allele contains an 8 bp insertion at the point of excision that disrupts the reading frame and is predicted to generate a premature translational stop. We show that the pho1;2a allele is linked to a dosage-dependent reduction in transcript accumulation and a mild reduction in seedling growth that is enhanced under nutrient deficient conditions. Characterization of the shoot and root transcriptomes of seedlings segregating the pho1;2a mutation under different nutrient conditions revealed pho1;2a to have a dominant effect on patterns of transcript accumulation. Gene set enrichment analysis of the transcripts mis-regulated in pho1;2a mutants suggests that Pho1;2a functions in the fine-tuning of the transcriptional phosphate starvation response. We discuss our results with reference to possible genetic redundancy among maize Pho1 genes and in the context of reports linking functional variation in Pho1;2a to agronomically important traits.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.