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Transcriptome response of maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings to heat stress

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Abstract

Among stresses, heat stress (HS) is a prime factor restricting plant growth and productivity. However, the molecular mechanisms of plants’ response to HS need to be further uncovered. Here, the transcriptome response of maize seedlings to HS was dissected using transcriptome data analysis. The data exhibited that a total of 43,221 genes in maize seedlings had been found, 37,534 of which were referred, while 5686 were not. Under HS, comparison with the control without HS, there were 13,607 genes that were differentially expressed (DEGs, 6195 upregulated and 7412 downregulated). In addition, Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis indicated that there were 220, 478, and 1300 terms that were enriched in cellular component, molecular function, and biological process, respectively. Significantly enriched GO terms were involved in 23 cellular components, 27 molecular functions, and 124 biological processes. Also, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis suggested that there were 2613 DEGs that were assigned to 131 pathways, 14 of which (enriched 1068 DEGs in total) were significantly upregulated. These pathways were mainly related to protein renaturation, biomembrane repair, osmotic adjustment, and redox balance. Among them, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum was the most significantly upregulated. The transcriptome data decoded that protein renaturation, biomembrane repair, osmotic adjustment, and redox balance played a key role in the response of maize seedlings to HS.

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Funding

This study is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31760069). In addition, we are grateful to Guangzhou Genedenovo Biotechnology Co., Ltd. for assisting in sequencing and/or bioinformatics analysis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, 650092, People’s Republic of China

    Zhong-Guang Li & Xin-Yu Ye

  2. Engineering Research Center of Sustainable Development and Utilization of Biomass Energy, Ministry of Education, Kunming, 650092, People’s Republic of China

    Zhong-Guang Li & Xin-Yu Ye

  3. Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Environmental Biotechnology, Yunnan Province, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming, 650092, People’s Republic of China

    Zhong-Guang Li & Xin-Yu Ye

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  1. Zhong-Guang Li
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  2. Xin-Yu Ye
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ZGL conceived and designed experiments and wrote the manuscript; XYY performed experiments. All authors have approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhong-Guang Li.

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Communicated by Handling Editor: Néstor Carrillo.

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Li, ZG., Ye, XY. Transcriptome response of maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings to heat stress. Protoplasma 259, 357–369 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-021-01680-8

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