Abstract
ABSTRACT Knowing genes related to water deficit is a valuable tool to assist and accelerate the selection process of maize genotypes more adapted to drought conditions. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate genes expression related to tolerance to water deficit in maize lines, using proteomic and transcriptomic analyses. Two lines previously classified as tolerant (91-T) and non-tolerant (57-NT) to low water availability were used. Dried seeds, ears tips, and seedlings (collected at three, five, and seven days after sowing) of the two maize lines (91-T and 57-NT) were used in proteomic analyses. Seedlings were subject to two contrasting water-availability conditions (70% and 10% of the water retention capacity). The expression of catalase, peroxidase, and esterase enzymes and heat-resistant proteins were evaluated by electrophoresis. Dried seeds, ears tips, and seedlings (collected at seven days after sowing, subject to two contrasting water-availability conditions) of two maize lines (91-T and 57-NT) were used in the transcriptomic analyses. The expression of genes associated with tolerance to low water availability (ZmPP2C, ZmLEA3, and AOX2) was evaluated by the qRT-PCR technique. Results revealed that catalase, peroxidase, and esterase enzymes had a higher expression on the ears tips of the 91-T line. The expression of catalase and esterase enzymes reduced in seven-day-old seedlings in the two lines analyzed. Heat-resistant proteins had greater activity on the dried seeds of the 91-T line. The AOX2 gene was identified as a potential marker for the selection of maize genotypes tolerant to water deficit.
Highlights
Maize is a cereal of great economic importance worldwide and is cultivated in practically all Brazilian states
Maize plants, when subject to water deficit, accumulate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which provoke oxidative stress and affect the antioxidant enzyme defense system and lipid peroxidation (Choudhury et al, 2017). Plants protect their cells and subcellular compartments from the toxic effects caused by ROS using protective compounds and several antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, peroxiredoxin, and polyphenol oxidase (Choudhury et al, 2017)
Water deficit-tolerance in plants is a complex characteristic associated with several factors, such as the antioxidant enzyme expression
Summary
Maize is a cereal of great economic importance worldwide and is cultivated in practically all Brazilian states. Maize plants, when subject to water deficit, accumulate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which provoke oxidative stress and affect the antioxidant enzyme defense system and lipid peroxidation (Choudhury et al, 2017). Plants protect their cells and subcellular compartments from the toxic effects caused by ROS using protective compounds and several antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, peroxiredoxin, and polyphenol oxidase (Choudhury et al, 2017). The superoxide dismutase enzyme acts as the first defense line against ROS by transforming superoxide into hydrogen peroxide (Ighodaro; Akinloye, 2018). The esterase enzyme is a degradative enzyme that acts on ester hydrolysis reactions (Turner; Humphreys, 2018)
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