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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Cold tolerance is a complex trait that requires a critical perspective to understand its underpinning mechanism. To unravel the molecular framework underlying maize (Zea mays L.) cold stress tolerance, we conducted a comparative transcriptome profiling of 24 cold-tolerant and 22 cold-sensitive inbred lines affected by cold stress at the seedling stage. Using the RNA-seq method, we identified 2237 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), namely 1656 and 581 annotated and unannotated DEGs, respectively. Further analysis of the 1656 annotated DEGs mined out two critical sets of cold-responsive DEGs, namely 779 and 877 DEGs, which were significantly enhanced in the tolerant and sensitive lines, respectively. Functional analysis of the 1656 DEGs highlighted the enrichment of signaling, carotenoid, lipid metabolism, transcription factors (TFs), peroxisome, and amino acid metabolism. A total of 147 TFs belonging to 32 families, including MYB, ERF, NAC, WRKY, bHLH, MIKC MADS, and C2H2, were strongly altered by cold stress. Moreover, the tolerant lines’ 779 enhanced DEGs were predominantly associated with carotenoid, ABC transporter, glutathione, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism. In comparison, the cold-sensitive lines’ 877 enhanced DEGs were significantly enriched for MAPK signaling, peroxisome, ribosome, and carbon metabolism pathways. The biggest proportion of the unannotated DEGs was implicated in the roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Taken together, this study provides valuable insights that offer a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying maize response to cold stress at the seedling stage, thus opening up possibilities for a breeding program of maize tolerance to cold stress.

Details

Title
Transcriptome Profiling of Maize (Zea mays L.) Leaves Reveals Key Cold-Responsive Genes, Transcription Factors, and Metabolic Pathways Regulating Cold Stress Tolerance at the Seedling Stage
Author
Waititu, Joram Kiriga 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Cai, Quan 2 ; Sun, Ying 1 ; Sun, Yinglu 3 ; Li, Congcong 1 ; Zhang, Chunyi 1 ; Liu, Jun 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Wang, Huan 4   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

 Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; [email protected] (J.K.W.); [email protected] (Y.S.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (C.Z.) 
 Maize Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin 150086, China; [email protected] 
 National Key Facility for Crop Resources and Genetic Improvement, Institute of Crop Science, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; [email protected] (Y.S.); [email protected] (J.L.) 
 Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; [email protected] (J.K.W.); [email protected] (Y.S.); [email protected] (C.L.); [email protected] (C.Z.); National Agricultural Science and Technology Center, Chengdu 610213, China 
First page
1638
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
20734425
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2584392028
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.