Transcriptomic and alternative splicing analyses provide insights into the roles of exogenous salicylic acid ameliorating waxy maize seedling growth under heat stress
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Salicylic acid (SA) is a phytohormone which works to regulate the abiotic stress response of plants. However, the molecular mechanism by which SA mediates heat tolerance in waxy maize (Zea mays L. sinsensis Kulesh) remains unknown. RESULTS: Two varieties of waxy maize seedlings, heat-tolerant 'Yunuo7' (Y7) and heat-sensitive 'Suyunuo5' (S5), were pretreated with SA prior to heat stress (HTS). After treatment, physiological and transcriptomic changes were analyzed. Compared with HTS, the exogenous application of SA enhanced the shoot dry weight, the activities of antioxidant enzymes (e.g., SOD, POD, CAT and APX), and the concentration of endogenous phytohormones (e.g., SA, ABA, IAA, GA3), while decreased the MDA content. Transcriptome analysis showed that the number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified in the control (CK) vs HTS and HTS vs HTS + SA comparisons were more in S5 than in Y7. HTS induced the downregulation of genes involved in photosynthesis and the upregulation of genes encoding heat shock transcription factors (HSFs) and heat shock proteins (HSPs). Compared with HTS, SA pretreatment reversed the expression of 5 photosynthesis-related genes, 26 phytohormone-related genes, and all genes encoding HSFs and HSPs in S5. Furthermore, the number of alternative splicing (AS) events increased under HTS treatment for both varieties, while decreased under SA pretreatment of S5. Differentially spliced genes (DSGs) showed little overlap with DEGs, and DEGs and DSGs differed significantly in functional enrichment. CONCLUSIONS: Physiological and transcriptional together indicated that HTS and SA pretreatment had a greater effect on S5 than Y7. Additionally, it appears that transcriptional regulation and AS work synergistically to enhance thermotolerance in heat-sensitive waxy maize. Our study revealed the regulatory effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of SA on waxy maize seedling under HTS.
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Exogenous application of salicylic acid enhances heat tolerance in waxy maize by modulating expression of heat shock response genes.
“Researchers demonstrated that exogenous application of salicylic acid could enhance heat tolerance in waxy maize by modulating the expression of heat shock response genes (Guo et al., 2022).”
From Emerging applications of gene editing technologies for the development of climate-resilient crops (2025) · cites this paper as Guo et al., 2022
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References 77 · Cited by 18
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [10]IPCC Fifth Assessment Report 2018 New York, NY Cambridge University Press
- Authors
- Guo, J., Wang, Z., Qu, L., Hu, Y., & Lu, D.
- Affiliations
- Yangzhou University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Lu, Dalei
- Venue
- BMC Plant Biology
- Published
- 2022-09-09
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 432-432
- ISSN
- 1471-2229 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9461148
- OpenAlex
- W4295077769
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 77
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3
- FWCI
- 2.07
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Plant Biology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (32071958)
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Government of Jiangsu Province
- Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20210792)
- Yangzhou University
- Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Growth Enhancement Techniques
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Plant Molecular Biology Research
- Keywords
- salicylic acid, waxy maize, maize, heat stress, heat tolerance, seedling growth, alternative splicing, heat shock transcription factor, heat shock proteins, photosynthesis genes, antioxidant enzymes, plant hormones, differentially expressed genes, differentially spliced genes, abiotic stress tolerance
- MeSH terms
- Zea mays, Plant Growth Regulators, Waxes, Alternative Splicing, Heat-Shock Response, Salicylic Acid, Seedlings, Transcriptome
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