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Transcriptomic Characterization of the Effects of Selenium on Maize Seedling Growth.

ABSTRACT: Selenium (Se) is a trace mineral element in soils that can be beneficial to plants in small amounts. Although maize is among the most economically important crops, there are few reports on the effects of Se on maize seedling growth at the molecular level. In this study, the growth of maize seedlings treated with different concentrations of Na₂SeO₃ was investigated, and the physiological characteristics were measured. Compared with the control, a low Se concentration promoted seedling growth, whereas a high Se concentration inhibited it. To illustrate the transcriptional effects of Se on maize seedling growth, samples from control plants and those treated with low or high concentrations of Se were subjected to RNA sequencing. The differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis revealed that there were 239 upregulated and 106 downregulated genes in the low Se treatment groups, while there were 845 upregulated and 1,686 downregulated DEGs in the high Se treatment groups. Both the Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) annotation analyses showed a low concentration of the Se-stimulated expression of "DNA replication" and "glutathione (GSH) metabolism"-related genes. A high concentration of Se repressed the expression of auxin signal transduction and lignin biosynthesis-related genes. The real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) results showed that in the low Se treatment, "auxin signal transduction," "DNA replication," and lignin biosynthesis-related genes were upregulated 1.4- to 57.68-fold compared to the control, while, in the high Se concentration treatment, auxin signal transduction and lignin biosynthesis-related genes were downregulated 1.6- to 16.23-fold compared to the control. Based on these transcriptional differences and qRT-PCR validation, it was found that a low dosage of Se may promote maize seedling growth but becomes inhibitory to growth at higher concentrations. This study lays a foundation for the mechanisms underlying the effects of Se on maize seedling growth.

SUBMITTER: Dou L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8650135 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundMaize (Zea mays) is a C4 tropical cereal and its adaptation to temperate climates can be problematic due to low soil temperatures at early stages of establishment.MethodsIn the current study we have firstly investigated the physiological response of twelve maize varieties, from a chilling condition adapted gene pool, to sub-optimal growth temperature during seedling emergence. To identify transcriptomic markers of cold tolerance in already adapted maize genotypes, temperature conditions were set below the optimal growth range in both control and low temperature groups. The conditions were as follows; control (18 °C for 16 h and 12 °C for 8 h) and low temperature (12 °C for 16 h and 6 °C for 8 h). Four genotypes were identified from the condition adapted gene pool with significant contrasting chilling tolerance.ResultsPicker and PR39B29 were the more cold-tolerant lines and Fergus and Codisco were the less cold-tolerant lines. These four varieties were subjected to microarray analysis to identify differentially expressed genes under chilling conditions. Exposure to low temperature during establishment in the maize varieties Picker, PR39B29, Fergus and Codisco, was reflected at the transcriptomic level in the varieties Picker and PR39B29. No significant changes in expression were observed in Fergus and Codisco following chilling stress. A total number of 64 genes were differentially expressed in the two chilling tolerant varieties. These two varieties exhibited contrasting transcriptomic profiles, in which only four genes overlapped.DiscussionWe observed that maize varieties possessing an enhanced root growth ratio under low temperature were more tolerant, which could be an early and inexpensive measure for germplasm screening under controlled conditions. We have identified novel cold inducible genes in an already adapted maize breeding gene pool. This illustrates that further varietal selection for enhanced chilling tolerance is possible in an already preselected gene pool.

Project description:During germination, maize seedlings express a phytase able to hydrolyse the large amount of phytin stored in the dry seed. Previous studies allowed purification and characterization of this enzyme as a homodimer of 38 kDa subunits [Laboure, Gagnon and Lescure, Biochem. J. (1993) 295, 413-419]. In the present work, an antibody against the purified maize phytase has been used to screen a maize seedling cDNA expression library. Several positive clones containing an insert of about 1400 bp were isolated. The nucleotide sequence of the insert of one of these clones has been established. This cDNA, called phy S11, was 1335 bp long and contained an open reading frame of 387 amino acids. The sequence of N-terminal residues (23 amino acids) of the purified phytase has been established. These residues are found at positions 19-41 of the amino acid sequence encoded by phy S11. This confirms that this cDNA codes for the maize phytase. The deduced amino acid sequence appears to be very different from those of published Aspergillus niger phytases; however, an homologous region of 33 amino acids was detected. This region of the fungal sequence contains the RHGxRxP consensus motif found in various high molecular mass acid phosphatases and believed to be the acceptor site for phosphate. Expression of the phy S11 cDNA in Escherichia coli allowed the production of the phytase subunit and its assembly to give a protein of the same size as the native phytase. The time course of phy S11 mRNA accumulation during germination showed that no transcript was present in dry seeds. The mRNA accumulated during the first day of germination, to reach a maximum after 2 days (radicle protrusion), and then decreased in young seedlings. Genomic Southern blot analyses suggest the existence of at least two genes and genetic mapping reveals two loci separated by 1 cM on chromosome 3 of maize. The cloning of this first cDNA coding for a plant phytase, will allow the isolation of the corresponding genes and the study of their regulation during germination.

Project description:BackgroundSolidago canadensis L. is an aggressive exotic plant species in China that has potential allelopathic effects on competing plant species. Effects of hormesis are frequently observed in studies of allelopathy; however, the mechanisms of such effects need to be elucidated. Allelopathic compounds may affect the growth of recipient plants via alteration of biomass allocation patterns or photosynthetic capacity. The aim of this study was to determine how water extracts from S. canadensis affected the shoot and root growth of recipient plants and whether the underlying mechanism was related to the biomass allocation pattern or photosynthetic gas exchange capacity.MethodsThe water extracts from S. canadensis shoots at 12 different concentrations in the range of 0-0.25 g/ml were applied thrice in 9 days to maize seedlings cultivated in silica sand. The growth (shoot height, leaf length and area and root length) and biomass accumulation and allocation (specific leaf area (SLA), leaf area ratio (LAR) and leaf mass ratio (LMR)) were compared among maize seedlings exposed to different treatment concentrations. Gas exchange (photosynthetic light response curve) was measured and compared among maize seedlings exposed to three concentrations of water extract (0, 0.0125 and 0.2 g/ml) before and after the first application, and seedling growth was measured after the third and final application.ResultsThe growth of seedlings (shoot height, leaf length and area and root length) was promoted at concentrations below 0.125 g/ml and inhibited at concentrations above this level (P < 0.05). The pattern of change in biomass accumulation and allocation was similar to that of shoot growth, but biomass accumulation and allocation was not significantly affected by the water extract treatments (P > 0.05). The water extract treatments did not significantly affect the photosynthetic capacity (P > 0.05), but the dark respiration rate was higher in the low-dose treatment than that in the high-dose treatment. Shoot height was positively correlated with the biomass allocation indicators SLA and LAR (P < 0.05) but not with LMR (P > 0.05).ConclusionsThe results suggested that the effects of the water extracts from S. canadensis were highly dependent on the concentration, with the growth of maize seedlings promoted at low concentrations of water extracts. The effects of the water extracts on the growth of maize seedlings were mainly due to the effects on the LAR, the allocation to leaf area growth, whereas the effects of the water extracts on leaf gas exchange capacity cannot explain variation of seedling growth. Thus, the stimulation of plant growth was very likely due to increased biomass allocation towards the shoot.

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Transcriptomic Characterization of the Effects of Selenium on Maize Seedling Growth.

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