Ji Mingfang, Xu Sirui, Ma Zhongxian, Xiao Chengnan, Xu Jiangting, Zhu Yanfang, Cai Ronghao, Bo Chen
Anhui Provincial Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Featured Resource Plants, College of Life Sciences, Huaibei Normal University, Huaibei, China.
National Engineering Laboratory of Crop Stress Resistance Breeding, School of Life Sciences, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
PeerJ. 2025 Apr 10;13:e19268. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19268. eCollection 2025.
Maize () is a crop of significant global importance, yet its productivity is considerably hindered by salt stress. In this study, we investigated two maize cultivars, one exhibiting high salt tolerance (ST) and the other showing salt sensitivity (SS) at the seedling stage. The ST cultivar demonstrated superior seedling survival rates, higher relative water content, and lower electrolyte leakage and malondialdehyde levels in its leaves after both 3-day and 7-day salt treatments, when compared to the SS cultivar. To explore the molecular basis of these differences, we performed comparative transcriptome sequencing under varying salt treatment durations. A total of 980 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis of DEGs indicated that the oxidation-reduction process, phosphorylation, plasma membrane, transferase activity, metal ion binding, kinase activity, protein kinase activity and oxidoreductase activity process is deeply involved in the response of ST and SS maize varieties to salt stress. Further analysis highlighted differences in the regulatory patterns of transcription factors encoded by the DEGs between the ST and SS cultivars. Notably, transcription factor families such as AP2/ERF, bZIP, MYB, and WRKY were found to play crucial roles in the salt stress regulatory network of maize. These findings provide valuable insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying salt stress tolerance in maize seedlings.
玉米（）是一种具有重大全球意义的作物，但其生产力受到盐胁迫的显著阻碍。在本研究中，我们调查了两个玉米品种，一个在幼苗期表现出高耐盐性（ST），另一个表现出盐敏感性（SS）。与SS品种相比，ST品种在3天和7天盐处理后，其叶片的幼苗存活率更高、相对含水量更高、电解质渗漏和丙二醛水平更低。为了探究这些差异的分子基础，我们在不同盐处理持续时间下进行了比较转录组测序。共鉴定出980个差异表达基因（DEG）。对DEG的基因本体（GO）功能富集分析表明，氧化还原过程、磷酸化、质膜、转移酶活性、金属离子结合、激酶活性、蛋白激酶活性和氧化还原酶活性过程深度参与了ST和SS玉米品种对盐胁迫的响应。进一步分析突出了ST和SS品种之间由DEG编码的转录因子调控模式的差异。值得注意的是，发现AP2/ERF、bZIP、MYB和WRKY等转录因子家族在玉米的盐胁迫调控网络中发挥关键作用。这些发现为玉米幼苗耐盐胁迫的分子机制提供了有价值的见解。
