ZmPEPCK2 enhances nutritional quality and yield potential by synchronizing carbon and nitrogen metabolism in maize kernels.
Yang X, Chao Q, Gao ZF, Chen YX, Liu YY
Crop Improvement
Corn bred to carry more protein without shrinking its yield could quietly shift the nutritional baseline of hundreds of foods — from tortillas to livestock feed — without asking farmers to sacrifice a single bushel.
Corn kernels store both starchy energy and protein, but getting more of one usually means less of the other. Researchers found a single molecular switch — a protein called PEPCK2 — that manages both processes at once, acting like a traffic controller that routes raw materials into both starch and protein storage simultaneously. When scientists turned this switch up in maize plants, the ears grew longer, the kernels got heavier, and the protein content jumped by nearly a third — all without harming the rest of the plant.
Key Findings
Overexpressing PEPCK2 increased ear length by 18.7%, kernel weight by 22.3%, and protein content by 31.5% with no negative effect on vegetative growth.
PEPCK2 boosts flux through the plant's energy-generating TCA cycle by 2.3-fold, efficiently converting amino acid building blocks into starch while recycling their nitrogen for protein synthesis.
Natural genetic variation in the PEPCK2 gene — in both its control region and coding sequence — is associated with measurable differences in yield and grain quality across maize varieties.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists identified a gene in maize called PEPCK2 that simultaneously boosts both protein content and grain yield — two traits that normally trade off against each other. Boosting this gene increased kernel weight by 22% and protein by 31%, offering a new breeding target for more nutritious, higher-yielding corn.
Abstract Preview
Maize (Zea mays) is the world's third most important staple crop and a major source of dietary energy and protein. Carbon and nitrogen accumulation in developing kernels fundamentally determine gra...
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Maize, also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. The leafy stalk of the plant gives rise to male inflorescences or tassels which produce pollen, and female inflorescences called ears. The ears yield grain, known as kernels or seeds. In modern ...