Dataset Information

Genome-Wide Analysis of TCP Family Genes in Zea mays L. Identified a Role for ZmTCP42 in Drought Tolerance.

ABSTRACT: The Teosinte-branched 1/Cycloidea/Proliferating (TCP) plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) have been demonstrated to play a fundamental role in plant development and organ patterning. However, it remains unknown whether or not the TCP gene family plays a role in conferring a tolerance to drought stress in maize, which is a major constraint to maize production. In this study, we identified 46 ZmTCP genes in the maize genome and systematically analyzed their phylogenetic relationships and synteny with rice, sorghum, and Arabidopsis TCP genes. Expression analysis of the 46 ZmTCP genes in different tissues and under drought conditions, suggests their involvement in maize response to drought stress. Importantly, genetic variations in ZmTCP32 and ZmTCP42 are significantly associated with drought tolerance at the seedling stage. RT-qPCR results suggest that ZmTCP32 and ZmTCP42 RNA levels are both induced by ABA, drought, and polyethylene glycol treatments. Based on the significant association between the genetic variation of ZmTCP42 and drought tolerance, and the inducible expression of ZmTCP42 by drought stress, we selected ZmTCP42, to investigate its function in drought response. We found that overexpression of ZmTCP42 in Arabidopsis led to a hypersensitivity to ABA in seed germination and enhanced drought tolerance, validating its function in drought tolerance. These results suggested that ZmTCP42 functions as an important TCP TF in maize, which plays a positive role in drought tolerance.

SUBMITTER: Ding S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6600213 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genome-Wide Analysis of TCP Family Genes in Zea mays L. Identified a Role for ZmTCP42 in Drought Tolerance.

Ding Shuangcheng S Cai Zhenzhen Z Du Hewei H Wang Hongwei H

International journal of molecular sciences 20190605 11

The Teosinte-branched 1/Cycloidea/Proliferating (TCP) plant-specific transcription factors (TFs) have been demonstrated to play a fundamental role in plant development and organ patterning. However, it remains unknown whether or not the TCP gene family plays a role in conferring a tolerance to drought stress in maize, which is a major constraint to maize production. In this study, we identified 46 ZmTCP genes in the maize genome and systematically analyzed their phylogenetic relati ...[more]

PMID: 31195663

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Project description:BackgroundEarlier studies were focused on the genetics of temperate and tropical maize under drought. We identified genetic loci and their association with functional mechanisms in 240 accessions of subtropical maize using a high-density marker set under water stress.ResultsOut of 61 significant SNPs (11 were false-discovery-rate-corrected associations), identified across agronomic traits, models, and locations by subjecting the accessions to water stress at flowering stage, 48% were associated with drought-tolerant genes. Maize gene models revealed that SNPs mapped for agronomic traits were in fact associated with number of functional traits as follows: stomatal closure, 28; flowering, 15; root development, 5; detoxification, 4; and reduced water potential, 2. Interactions of these SNPS through the functional traits could lead to drought tolerance. The SNPs associated with ABA-dependent signalling pathways played a major role in the plant's response to stress by regulating a series of functions including flowering, root development, auxin metabolism, guard cell functions, and scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS). ABA signalling genes regulate flowering through epigenetic changes in stress-responsive genes. ROS generated by ABA signalling are reduced by the interplay between ethylene, ABA, and detoxification signalling transductions. Integration of ABA-signalling genes with auxin-inducible genes regulates root development which in turn, maintains the water balance by regulating electrochemical gradient in plant.ConclusionsSeveral genes are directly or indirectly involved in the functioning of agronomic traits related to water stress. Genes involved in these crucial biological functions interacted significantly in order to maintain the primary as well as exclusive functions related to coping with water stress. SNPs associated with drought-tolerant genes involved in strategic biological functions will be useful to understand the mechanisms of drought tolerance in subtropical maize.

Project description:The worldwide production of maize (Zea mays L.) is frequently impacted by water scarcity and as a result, increased drought tolerance is a priority target in maize breeding programs. While DREB transcription factors have been demonstrated to play a central role in desiccation tolerance, whether or not natural sequence variations in these genes are associated with the phenotypic variability of this trait is largely unknown. In the present study, eighteen ZmDREB genes present in the maize B73 genome were cloned and systematically analyzed to determine their phylogenetic relationship, synteny with rice, maize and sorghum genomes; pattern of drought-responsive gene expression, and protein transactivation activity. Importantly, the association between the nucleic acid variation of each ZmDREB gene with drought tolerance was evaluated using a diverse population of maize consisting of 368 varieties from tropical and temperate regions. A significant association between the genetic variation of ZmDREB2.7 and drought tolerance at seedling stage was identified. Further analysis found that the DNA polymorphisms in the promoter region of ZmDREB2.7, but not the protein coding region itself, was associated with different levels of drought tolerance among maize varieties, likely due to distinct patterns of gene expression in response to drought stress. In vitro, protein-DNA binding assay demonstrated that ZmDREB2.7 protein could specifically interact with the target DNA sequences. The transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing ZmDREB2.7 displayed enhanced tolerance to drought stress. Moreover, a favorable allele of ZmDREB2.7, identified in the drought-tolerant maize varieties, was effective in imparting plant tolerance to drought stress. Based upon these findings, we conclude that natural variation in the promoter of ZmDREB2.7 contributes to maize drought tolerance, and that the gene and its favorable allele may be an important genetic resource for the genetic improvement of drought tolerance in maize.

Project description:AP2 (APETALA2)/EREBP (ethylene-responsive element-binding protein), cytochrome c oxidase (COX) and nonspecific lipid transfer proteins (LTP) play important roles in the response to drought stress. This is the first study to identify the COX gene in Zea mays L. via genome-wide analysis. The qRT‒PCR results indicated that AP2/EREBP, COX and LTP were downregulated, with fold changes of 0.84, 0.53 and 0.31, respectively, after 12 h of drought stress. Genome-wide analysis identified 78 AP2/EREBP, 6 COX and 10 LTP genes in Z. mays L. Domain analysis confirmed the presence of the AP2 domain, Cyt_c_Oxidase_Vb domain and nsLTP1 in the AP2/EREBP, COX and LTP proteins, respectively. The AP2/EREBP protein family (AP2) includes five different domain types: the AP2/ERF domain, the EREBP-like factor (EREBP), the ethylene responsive factor (ERF), the dehydration responsive element binding protein (DREB) and the SHN SHINE. Synteny analysis of the AP2/EREBP, COX and LTP genes revealed collinearity orthologous relationships in O. sativa, H. vulgare and A. thaliana. AP2/EREBP genes were found on the 10 chromosomes of Z. mays L. COX genes were found on chromosomes 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. LTP genes were found on chromosomes 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10. In the present study, the Ka/Ks ratios of the AP2/EREBP paralogous pairs indicated that the AP2/EREBP genes were influenced primarily by purifying selection, which indicated that the AP2/EREBP genes received strong environmental pressure during evolution. The Ka/Ks ratios of the COX-3/COX-4 paralogous pairs indicate that the COX-3/COX-4 genes were influenced primarily by Darwinian selection (driving change). For the LTP genes, the Ka/Ks ratios of the LTP-1/LTP-10, LTP-5/LTP-3 and LTP-4/LTP-8 paralogous pairs indicate that these genes were influenced primarily by purifying selection, while the Ka/Ks ratios of the LTP-2/LTP-6 paralogous pairs indicate that these genes were influenced primarily by Darwinian selection. The duplication time of the AP2/EREBP paralogous gene pairs in Z. mays L. ranged from approximately 9.364 to 100.935 Mya. The duplication time of the COX-3/COX-4 paralogous gene pair was approximately 5.217 Mya. The duplication time of the LTP paralogous gene pairs ranged from approximately 19.064 to 96.477 Mya. The major focus of research is to identify the genes that are responsible for drought stress tolerance to improve maize for drought stress tolerance. The results of the present study will improve the understanding of the functions of the AP2/EREBP, COX and LTP genes in response to drought stress.

Dataset Information

Genome-Wide Analysis of TCP Family Genes in Zea mays L. Identified a Role for ZmTCP42 in Drought Tolerance.

Publications

Genome-Wide Analysis of TCP Family Genes in <i>Zea mays</i> L. Identified a Role for <i>ZmTCP42</i> in Drought Tolerance.

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