Min Jin#, Shijuan Yan#, Yuting Wu, Zhaowei Zhai, Saleh Alseekh, Yuanyuan Chen, Wenjie Huang, Niannian Ma, Keyu Tao, Kangyi Xiao, Yongli Zhu, Yanhui Yu, Yang Shao, Chenglin Jiang, Xiangguo Liu, Jiamin Sun, Yanzhi Qu, Wenjie Wei, Wenqiang Li, Jieting Xu, Jingyun Luo, Xiaqing Wang, Lin Zhuo, Junpeng Zhan, Fazhan Qiu, Ning Yang, Yingjie Xiao, Hai-Jun Liu, Alisdair R. Fernie, Jianbing Yan*

Nature Genetics (2026), Published: 29 June 2026

Abstract

Maize primary metabolism drives complex agronomic traits, yet its genetic regulation remains difficult to resolve. Here we integrated genomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic data from 1,404 maize progenies derived from 24 diverse founders to dissect the genetic architecture of primary metabolism. We constructed a high-confidence regulatory network that resolved causal genes underlying metabolic quantitative trait loci and successfully identified targets for improving maize nutritional quality. This systems-level framework further prioritized ZmAVT1A-1, encoding a putative amino acid transporter, as a key regulator of amino acid accumulation. Natural variation and transgenic analyses showed that ZmAVT1A-1 modulates nitrogen partitioning between vegetative tissues and kernels, revealing pleiotropic effects on agronomic traits. These findings illustrated the intricate trade-offs inherent in metabolic regulation. Together, our study provides a comprehensive multiomics resource for decoding metabolic networks and underscores the necessity of a systems approach to navigate the pleiotropic nature of crop improvement targets.

论文链接：https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-026-02655-2