The ZmWUS1 proximal promoter contains a conserved noncoding sequence in grasses. A and B) The proximal promoter of ZmWUS1 contains an 84 bp noncoding sequence that is highly conserved across the Panicoideae (A, mVISTA analysis; B, phyloP analysis). UTR, untranslated region; CNS, conserved noncoding sequence. C) In maize, this conserved noncoding sequence is located in an open chromatin region (ATAC-seq (Hufford et al. 2021) and MOA-seq (Savadel et al. 2021)). D) Sequence annotation of the proximal region of the ZmWUS1-B promoter (−340 to −600 bp upstream of the start codon ATG). A 69 bp DNA fragment (blue line) within the 84 bp CNS has been duplicated and is present in both the proximal promoter and the ZmWUS1-B enhancer in Bif3 mutants. Denim box, enhancer DNA; orange lines, AGATAT-binding motifs. The 51, 33, and 68 bp indicate the respective distances between 2 adjacent AGATAT-binding motifs. Numbers next to the aligned sequences indicate distance from the start codon. Ao, Asparagus officinalis; Da, Dioscorea alata; Hv, Hordeum vulgare; Os, Oryza sativa; Bd, Brachypodium distachyon; Pv, Panicum virgatum; Si, Setaria italica; Sv, Setaria viridis; Sb, Sorghum bicolor; Uf, Urochloa fusca; Ph, Panicum hallii.