Heterosis is a crucial facet of evolution that produces higher quality, healthier, and more resistant offspring relative to parents. Conversely, inbreeding depression is the lack of vigor because of overexpressing harmful or detrimental traits. Heterosis is a fairly unexplored field in biology, and much is still unknown regarding the effects of heterosis on the maize embryo and its implications for many metabolic pathways that occur there. In Vivo research on the proteomic effects of heterosis in Zea mays (maize) embryos will contribute to an increased knowledge of heterosis in Maize embryos. Improved heterosis of maize can lead to increased food production, more extensive livestock health, and fuel ethanol production. My thesis sought to identify which protein levels in the maize embryo are elevated or decreased and the potential role of these proteins in heterosis. We identified that levels of histone linker 1 (H1) and several enzymes involved with lipid biosynthesis are elevated in the hybrid. This finding suggests that hybrids may experience reduced stress by lowering the expression levels of transposable elements. Furthermore, levels of glutathione S-transferase and hsp60 proteins were reduced in the hybrid embryo, indicating lower levels of metabolic stress. By identifying protein groups and individual proteins that were not expressed at midparent levels, we identified metabolic pathways that are affected by heterosis, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanism of heterosis in maize embryos.
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