Improving Gene Model Accuracy for Nitrogen-Use Efficiency Genes in Zea mays

Abstract

Zea mays is one of the most highly produced crops in the world. It plays a big role in food security, fuel production, and economic stability. A factor that contributes to the production cost and yield of Zea mays is its nitrogen-use efficiency. At least twenty genes in Zea mays are related to nitrogen-use efficiency. The purpose of this study was to improve the accuracy of existing models of nine genes relating to nitrogen-use efficiency in Zea mays by using data present in the Apollo gene annotation platform to inform changes required for updated gene models. These changes were made and used to produce a supertranscript for each gene. Alignment of proteins encoded by all possible transcripts was performed to identify differences in protein structure and domain presence where applicable. These models can be used to provide insight into the gene regulation and protein isoform functio