Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33689028›Full record

ArticlePlant reproduction2021

Transgenerational conditioned male fertility of HD-ZIP IV transcription factor mutant ocl4: impact on 21-nt phasiRNA accumulation in pre-meiotic maize anthers.

Pranjal Yadava, Saleh Tamim, Han Zhang, Chong Teng, Xue Zhou, Blake C Meyers, Virginia Walbot

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Plant reproduction, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Maize Anther Development Involves Translated Open Reading Frames From 3' Untranslated Regions.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026
    Article
  3. Reproductive phasiRNAs are the piRNAs of plants.Trends in genetics : TIG · 2026
    Review
  4. Article
  5. International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Will epigenetics be a key player in crop breeding?Frontiers in plant science · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Pranjal Yadava *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9023-4596
Saleh Tamim *Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19711, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6215-7041
Han ZhangDepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Chong TengDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63132, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9898-6442
Xue ZhouDepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Blake C MeyersDonald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 N. Warson Rd, St. Louis, MO, 63132, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3436-6097
Virginia WalbotDepartment of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA. walbot@stanford.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1596-7279
Stanford University · USDonald Danforth Plant Science Center · USICAR-Indian Institute of Maize Research · INUniversity of Delaware · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

key messageMaize Outer cell layer 4 (ocl4) encodes an HD-ZIP IV transcription factor required for robust male fertility and 21-nt phasiRNA biogenesis. ocl4 fertility is favored in warm conditions, and phasiRNAs are partially restored. Environment-sensitive male-sterile plants have been described before and can result from different molecular mechanisms and biological processes, but putative environment-conditioned, transgenerational rescue of their male fertility is a rather new mystery. Here, we report a derivative line of the male-sterile outer cell layer 4 (ocl4) mutant of maize, in which fertility was restored and perpetuated over several generations. Conditioned fertile ocl4 anthers exhibit the anatomical abnormality of a partially duplicated endothecial layer, just like their sterile counterparts. We profiled the dynamics of phased, small interfering RNAs (phasiRNAs) during pre-meiotic development in fully sterile and various grades of semi-fertile ocl4 anthers. The conditioned fertile anthers accumulated significantly higher 21-nt phasiRNAs compared to ocl4 sterile samples, suggesting a partial restoration of phasiRNAs in conditioned fertility. We found that the biogenesis of 21-nt phasiRNAs is largely dependent on Ocl4 at three key steps: (1) production of PHAS precursor transcripts, (2) expression of miR2118 that modulates precursor processing, and (3) accumulation of 21-nt phasiRNAs.

Indexed as

Transcription FactorsZea maysFertilityGene Expression Regulation, PlantRNA, PlantRNA, PlantTranscription FactorsConditioned fertilityMaizeMale sterilityOcl4PhasiRNA

Identifiers

PMID33689028
OpenAlexW3134991162

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.