Reconstructing the Transcriptional Ontogeny of Maize and Sorghum Supports an Inverse Hourglass Model of Inflorescence Development

Assembling meaningful comparisons between species is a major limitation in studying the evolution of organismal form. To understand development in maize and sorghum, closely related species with architecturally distinct inflorescences, we collected RNA-seq profiles encompassing inflorescence body-plan specification in both species. We reconstructed molecular ontogenies from 40 B73 maize tassels and 47 BTx623 sorghum panicles and separated them into transcriptional stages. To discover new markers of inflorescence development, we used random forest machine learning to determine stage by RNA-seq. We used two descriptions of transcriptional conservation to identify hourglass-like stages during inflorescence development. Despite a relatively short 12 million years since their last common ancestor, we found maize and sorghum inflorescences are most different during their hourglass-like stages of development, following an inverse-hourglass model of development. We discuss whether agricultural selection may account for the rapid divergence signatures in these species and the observed separation of evolutionary pressure and developmental reprogramming. [Display omitted] •Transcript dynamics identify maize tassel and sorghum panicle developmental stages•Random forest predicts age by gene expression, providing markers and in silico staging•Maize and sorghum are most similar when committing stem cells to a determinate fate•Expression conservation identifies hourglass-like stage, but transcriptomes diverge To understand body-plan specification in maize and sorghum, related crops with distinct inflorescences, Leiboff and Hake collect expression profiles across development to reconstruct molecular ontogenies. When synchronized, many processes are shared between species, but signatures of selection suggest divergent hourglass-like developmental stages.