Overexpression of zmm28 increases maize grain yield in the field

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902593116
• Publication Date: 2019-11-05T02:02:29Z
• Authors: Jingrui Wu; Shai J. Lawit; Ben Weers; Jindong Sun; Nick Mongar; John Van Hemert; Rosana Melo; Xin Meng; Mary Rupe; Joshua Clapp; Kristin Haug Collet; Libby Trecker; Keith Roesler; Layton Peddicord; Jill Thomas; Joanne Hunt; Wengang Zhou; Zhenglin Hou; Matthew Wimmer; Justin Jantes; Hua Mo; Lu Liu; Yiwei Wang; Carl Walker; Olga Danilevskaya; Renee H. Lafitte; Jeffrey R. Schussler; Bo Shen; Jeffrey E. Habben
• Keywords: Crops, Agricultural; 0301 basic medicine; 2. Zero hunger; Nitrogen; Genes, Plant; Plants, Genetically Modified; Nitrate Reductase; Zea mays; Plant Leaves; 03 medical and health sciences; PNAS Plus; Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase; Amino Acid Sequence; Photosynthesis; Edible Grain; Transcriptome; Plant Proteins; Protein Binding

Increasing maize grain yield has been a major focus of both plant breeding and genetic engineering to meet the global demand for food, feed, and industrial uses. We report that increasing and extending expression of a maize MADS-box transcription factor gene, zmm28 , under the control of a moderate-constitutive maize promoter, results in maize plants with increased plant growth, photosynthesis capacity, and nitrogen utilization. Molecular and biochemical characterization of zmm28 transgenic plants demonstrated that their enhanced agronomic traits are associated with elevated plant carbon assimilation, nitrogen utilization, and plant growth. Overall, these positive attributes are associated with a significant increase in grain yield relative to wild-type controls that is consistent across years, environments, and elite germplasm backgrounds.