The Transcription Factor Gene Is Involved in Salt Tolerance in Maize ( L.).

The NAC gene family has transcription factors specific to plants, which are involved in development and stress response and adaptation. In this study, , an NAC gene in maize that plays a role in saline-alkaline tolerance, was isolated and characterized. ZmNAC89 was localized in the nucleus and had transcriptional activation activity during in vitro experiments. The expression of was strongly upregulated under saline-alkaline, drought and ABA treatments. Overexpression of the gene in transgenic and maize enhanced salt tolerance at the seedling stage. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were then confirmed via RNA-sequencing analysis with the transgenic maize line. GO analyses showed that oxidation-reduction process-regulated genes were involved in -mediated salt-alkaline stress. may regulate maize saline-alkali tolerance through the REDOX pathway and ABA signal transduction pathway. From 140 inbred maize lines, 20 haplotypes and 16 SNPs were found in the coding region of the gene, including the excellent haplotype HAP20. These results contribute to a better understanding of the response mechanism of maize to salt-alkali stress and marker-assisted selection during maize breeding.