Exogenous Glycinebetaine Application Contributes to Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Maize

Abstract

Plant growth and development are adversely affected by various environmental stresses. In this study, we investigated the possible function of glycinebetaine (GB) in improving abiotic stress tolerance in maize plants by exogenous application. Results indicated that GB application could effectively improve maize germination percentages, biomass weights and grain yield per plant under abiotic stresses. Moreover, GB-treated plants showed higher reactive oxygen species (ROS)-scavenging capacities, therefore less oxidative destruction than control plants under stresses. In addition, abscisic acid (ABA) levels were increased in GB-treated plants compared to control plants. The comparison of transcriptome profile was performed to analyze the possible mechanism underlying the enhanced tolerance mediated by GB. Many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between GB-treated and control plants were found to be involved in responses to oxidative stress, abiotic stress and ABA. Taken together, these results indicated that GB might enhance abiotic stress tolerance in maize by regulating ROS-scavenging capacities and ABA-mediated stress-responsive pathways.