Tocopherols (生育酚), tocotrienols (生育三烯酚类) and plastochromanols (质体色满酚) (collectively termed tocochromanols 生育色满酚) are lipid-soluble antioxidants (脂溶性抗氧化剂) synthesized by all plants. Their dietary intake (饮食摄入量), primarily from seed oils, provides vitamin E and other health benefits. Tocochromanol biosynthesis has been dissected (仔细分析或研究) in the dicot Arabidopsis thaliana, which has green, photosynthetic (光合的) seeds, but our understanding of tocochromanol accumulation in major crops, whose seeds are non-photosynthetic, remains limited. To understand the genetic control of tocochromanols in grain, we conducted a joint linkage (联合连锁) and genome-wide association study in the 5,000-line U.S. maize (Zea mays) nested association-mapping panel. Fifty-two quantitative trait loci (QTL) for individual and total tocochromanols were identified, and of the 14 resolved to individual genes, six encode novel activities affecting tocochromanols in plants. These include two chlorophyll biosynthetic enzymes (叶绿素生物合成酶) that explain the majority of tocopherol (生育酚) variation, which was not predicted, given that, like most major cereal crops, maize grain is non-photosynthetic. This comprehensive assessment of natural variation in vitamin E levels in maize establishes the foundation for improving tocochromanol and vitamin E content in seeds of maize and other major cereal crops.

研究方向：生化基因组学与遗传学。

FirstPublished data: October 2, 2017.