Abstract
Maize is a cold-sensitive plant whose physiological reactions to sub-optimal temperatures are well understood, but their molecular foundations are only beginning to be deciphered. In an attempt to identify key genes involved in these reactions, we surveyed several independent transcriptomic studies addressing the response of juvenile maize to moderate or severe cold. Among the tens of thousands of genes found to change expression upon cold treatment less than 500 were reported in more than one study, indicating an astonishing variability of the expression changes, likely depending on the experimental design and plant material used. Nearly all these “common” genes were specific to either moderate or to severe cold and formed distinct interaction networks, indicating fundamentally different responses. Moreover, down-regulation of gene expression dominated strongly in moderate cold and up-regulation prevailed in severe cold. Very few of these genes have ever been mentioned in the literature as cold-stress–related, indicating that most response pathways remain poorly known at the molecular level. We posit that the genes identified by the present analysis are attractive candidates for further functional studies and their arrangement in complex interaction networks indicates that a re-interpretation of the present state of knowledge on the maize cold-response is justified.
Highlights
Maize exhibits numerous features interesting from both the basic and applied points of view (Walbot, 2009)
At the V3–V5 growth stages a few cold days with minimal temperatures around 5°C during the day can be sufficient to cause photoinhibition (Fryer et al, 1995), chlorosis, membrane damage, and eventually necrosis or even plant death (Janowiak and Markowski, 1994). These fundamentally different physiological responses warrant distinguishing two types of cold stress: moderately low temperatures (12–15°C) and severe cold (Stamp, 1984; Marocco et al, 2005; Frascaroli and Revilla, 2018). This distinction, is not absolute, since when severe cold is preceded by a several-day period of low temperatures above 12°C, the disturbances are less profound, which is a sign of cold-acclimation (Leipner et al, 2000; Sobkowiak et al, 2016)
Plants confronted with a lifethreatening stress apparently activate diverse protective mechanisms, which manifests in the maize response to severe cold as induction of expression of genes related to major signalling pathways and to the transcription machinery
Summary
Maize exhibits numerous features interesting from both the basic and applied points of view (Walbot, 2009). At the V3–V5 growth stages a few cold days with minimal temperatures around 5°C during the day can be sufficient to cause photoinhibition (Fryer et al, 1995), chlorosis, membrane damage, and eventually necrosis or even plant death (Janowiak and Markowski, 1994). These fundamentally different physiological responses warrant distinguishing two types of cold stress: moderately low temperatures (12–15°C) and severe cold These studies have reached a sufficiently advanced stage to warrant a critical summing up with an attempt at drawing wider conclusions
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