Comparative Gene Enrichment Analysis for Drought Tolerance in Contrasting Maize Genotype

Syed Faheem Anjum Gillani; Adnan Rasheed; Asim Abbasi; Yasir Majeed; Musawer Abbas; Muhammad Umair Hassan; Sameer H Qari; Najat Binothman; Najla Amin T Al Kashgry; Majid Mahmood Tahir; Yunling Peng

doi:10.3390/genes14010031

Comparative Gene Enrichment Analysis for Drought Tolerance in Contrasting Maize Genotype

Genes (Basel). 2022 Dec 22;14(1):31. doi: 10.3390/genes14010031.

Affiliations

¹ Gansu Provincial Key Lab of Arid Land Crop Science, Lanzhou 730070, China.
² College of Agronomy, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.
³ Department of Environmental Sciences, Kohsar University, Murree 47150, Pakistan.
⁴ Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan.
⁵ Research Center on Ecological Sciences, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330029, China.
⁶ Genetics and Molecular Biology Central Laboratory, Department of Biology, Aljumum University College, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24243, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences and Arts, King Abdulaziz University, Rabigh 21911, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch, Rawalakot 12350, Pakistan.

Abstract

Drought stress is a significant abiotic factor influencing maize growth and development. Understanding the molecular mechanism of drought tolerance is critical to develop the drought tolerant genotype. The identification of the stress responsive gene is the first step to developing a drought tolerant genotype. The aim of the current research was to pinpoint the genes that are essential for conserved samples in maize drought tolerance. In the current study, inbred lines of maize, 478 and H21, a drought-tolerant and susceptible line, were cultivated in the field and various treatments were applied. The circumstances during the vegetative stage (severe drought, moderate drought and well-watered environments) and RNA sequencing were used to look into their origins. In 478, 68%, 48% and 32% of drought-responsive genes (DRGs) were found, with 63% of DRGs in moderate drought and severe drought conditions in H21, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) keywords were explicitly enriched in the DRGs of H21, which were considerably over-represented in the two lines. According to the results of the GSEA, "phenylpropanoid biosynthesis" was exclusively enriched in H21, but "starch and sucrose metabolism" and "plant hormone signal transduction" were enhanced in both of the two lines. Further investigation found that the various expression patterns of genes linked to the trehalose biosynthesis pathway, reactive oxygen scavenging, and transcription factors, may have a role in maize's ability to withstand drought. Our findings illuminate the molecular ways that respond to lack and offer gene resources for maize drought resistance. Similarly, SNP and correlation analysis gave us noticeable results that urged us to do the same kind of analysis on other crops. Additionally, we isolated particular transcription factors that could control the expression of genes associated to photosynthesis and leaf senescence. According to our findings, a key factor in tolerance is the equilibrium between the induction of leaf senescence and the preservation of photosynthesis under drought.

Keywords: GO analysis; GSEA; PCR; SNP; drought tolerant; maize.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Drought Resistance*
Droughts
Genotype
Transcription Factors / genetics
Zea mays* / genetics
Zea mays* / metabolism

Substances

Transcription Factors

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the National Key research and development project (2022YFD1201804), Talent Fuxi Project of Gansu Agricultural University, (No. GAUFX-47102Y09), and the Lanzhou Science and Technology Bureau (No. 2020-RC-122).