Global transcriptome analysis of the maize (Zea mays L.) inbred line 08LF during leaf senescence initiated by pollination-prevention.

Liancheng Wu,Liuji Wu,Mingna Li,Lixia Ku,Shunxi Wang,Jun Zhang,Haiping Liu,Lei Tian,Xiaoheng Song,Yanhui Chen,Ricardo Aroca

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0185838

Liancheng Wu, Liuji Wu + Show 9 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185838

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Abstract

In maize (Zea mays), leaf senescence acts as a nutrient recycling process involved in proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids degradation and transport to the developing sink. However, the molecular mechanisms of pre-maturation associated with pollination-prevention remain unclear in maize. To explore global gene expression changes during the onset and progression of senescence in maize, the inbred line 08LF, with severe early senescence caused by pollination prevention, was selected. Phenotypic observation showed that the onset of leaf senescence of 08LF plants occurred approximately 14 days after silking (DAS) by pollination prevention. Transcriptional profiling analysis of the leaf at six developmental stages during induced senescence revealed that a total of 5,432 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, including 2314 up-regulated genes and 1925 down-regulated genes. Functional annotation showed that the up-regulated genes were mainly enriched in multi-organism process and nitrogen compound transport, whereas down-regulated genes were involved in photosynthesis. Expression patterns and pathway enrichment analyses of early-senescence related genes indicated that these DEGs are involved in complex regulatory networks, especially in the jasmonic acid pathway. In addition, transcription factors from several families were detected, particularly the CO-like, NAC, ERF, GRAS, WRKY and ZF-HD families, suggesting that these transcription factors might play important roles in driving leaf senescence in maize as a result of pollination-prevention.

Highlights

Maize (Zea mays L.), similar to other flowering plants, undergoes a series of distinct growth phases starting from germination, juvenile and adult vegetative phases, flowering, and reproduction, and to senescence [1]
To characterize the growth of 08LF, we compared the phenotypes of 08LF, Zong 3, 87–1, Mo17, PH4CV, PH6WC, Chang 7–2, Zheng 58, HCL645 and B73 under pollination prevention. 08LF showed earlier and faster leaf senescence than the HCL645 line and B73 lines, whereas the other inbred lines remained green in color (S2A and S2B Fig)
For further investigation of premature leaf senescence in the inbred line 08LF, phenotypes of the ears leaves and the upper leaves of FP and FNP plants were observed in the field at 6, 10, 14, 18, 21, 24, and 27 days after silking (DAS)

Summary

Introduction

Maize (Zea mays L.), similar to other flowering plants, undergoes a series of distinct growth phases starting from germination, juvenile and adult vegetative phases, flowering, and reproduction, and to senescence [1]. Senescence is a major concern in the field of agriculture [2], as it often invariably occurs based on the effects of external stressors and internal. Transcriptome analysis of maize during leaf senescence initiation by pollination-prevention

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