Glossy15 controls the epidermal juvenile-to-adult phase transition in maize

Abstract

Loss-of-function mutations at the maize Glossy15 (Gl15) locus alter the normal transition from juvenile-to-adult growth by conditioning the abbreviated expression of juvenile epidermal cell traits and the coordinate precocious expression of adult epidermal cell features. These include epicuticular wax composition, cell wall characteristics, and the presence or absence of differentiated epidermal cell types (e.g., epidermal macrohairs and bulliform cells). A transposon-induced mutable allele of Glossy15 (gl15-m1) was isolated and employed in both phenotypic and genetic analyses to characterize the role of Gl15 in the maize juvenile-to-adult phase transition. Comparisons between Gl15-active and Gl15-inactive somatic sectors in the leaves of variegated plants demonstrated that the Gl15 gene product acts in a cell-autonomous manner to direct juvenile epidermal differentiation but does not affect factors that regulate the overall process of phase change. Examination of the gl15-m1 phenotype in the Corngrass1, Teopod1, and Teopod2 mutant backgrounds showed that the prolonged expression of juvenile epidermal traits associated with these mutations also required Gl15 activity. These results support a model whereby the cell-autonomous Gl15 gene product responds to a juvenility program that operates throughout the vegetative shoot to condition the juvenile differentiation of maize leaf epidermal cells.