Regulatory Mechanisms of Free Umami Amino Acid Accumulation in Fresh Waxy Kernels: Insights from Transcriptome and Metabolomics Analyses
Lin Zhao, Kaimei Huang, Letan Luo, Xiangqun Yu, Ning Shen, Yifan Wu, Jianguo Wu, Jiang Shi, Erkui Yue
TL;DR
This study explores how free umami amino acids accumulate in fresh corn kernels by analyzing gene expression and metabolite levels.
Contribution
The study identifies bZIP transcription factors as potential regulators of umami amino acid accumulation in corn kernels.
Findings
Q3 corn ears had significantly higher levels of free amino acids compared to H402.
Genes like O2, NKD1, and bZIP were downregulated in Q3, while glutamate and aspartate biosynthesis genes were upregulated.
Promoter analysis revealed bZIP binding motifs, suggesting their regulatory role in amino acid synthesis.
Abstract
Free amino acids play a key role as flavor components and metabolic precursors in fresh corn, with umami taste largely attributing to their concentration, particularly the umami amino acid glutamate and aspartate. While several genes involved in the biosynthesis of these amino acids have been identified, their regulatory pathways remain poorly understood. Sweet waxy corn ‘Qianjiangnuo No.3’ (Q3) and waxy corn ‘Huayunhuanuo 402’ (H402), with contrasting umami taste, were used in this study. Transcriptomic, metabolomic, and targeted metabolite profiling were conducted at kernel-filling stage. Our analysis showed that Q3 ears possessed significantly higher levels of free amino acids than H402, and its umami amino acids were highly enriched. Diverse enrichment of amino acids was observed across the isolated kernels distribution in ears. The O2 (bZIP1), Naked endosperm1 (NKD1), and bZIP…
Genes, proteins, chemicals, diseases, species, mutations and cell lines named across the full text — each resolved to its canonical identifier and authoritative record.
Click any figure to enlarge with its caption.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9Peer Reviews
No public reviews on file for this paper yet. If you reviewed it on a platform where reviews are public (OpenReview, ICLR, NeurIPS, ICML), you can paste yours below so the community can read it here.
Videos
No videos yet. Explain this paper in a talk, walkthrough, or lecture? Add one.
Taxonomy
TopicsBiochemical Analysis and Sensing Techniques · Postharvest Quality and Shelf Life Management · GABA and Rice Research