THE PLANT CELL, Vol 2, Issue 2 107-113, Copyright © 1990 by American Society of Plant Biologists
An Abnormal Growth Mutant in Maize Has a Defective Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase Gene
K. J. Newton, C. Knudsen, S. Gabay-Laughnan and J. R. Laughnan
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211
We describe a new maternally inherited maize mutation, nonchromosomal
stripe 5 (NCS5), that adversely affects plant growth and yield. Mutant
plants are characterized by reduced height, defective yellow striping on
leaves, and aborted kernels on ears. NCS5 striped plants carry both normal
and partially deleted versions of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase
subunit 2 gene and exhibit greatly reduced levels of cox2 transcripts when
compared with nonstriped control plants. Other mitochondrial genes and
their mRNAs are not affected. Thus, the defective plant phenotype is
correlated with a reduction in the number of functional cytochrome oxidase
subunit 2 genes. The NCS5 mutant mitochondrial genome appears to have
arisen by amplification of a rare homologous recombination product.