Abstract
Drought stress is a major factor that contributes to disease susceptibility and yield loss in agricultural crops. To identify drought responsive proteins and explore metabolic pathways involved in maize tolerance to drought stress, two maize lines (B73 and Lo964) with contrasting drought sensitivity were examined. The treatments of drought and well water were applied at 14 days after pollination (DAP), and protein profiles were investigated in developing kernels (35 DAP) using iTRAQ (isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation). Proteomic analysis showed that 70 and 36 proteins were significantly altered in their expression under drought treatments in B73 and Lo964, respectively. The numbers and levels of differentially expressed proteins were generally higher in the sensitive genotype, B73, implying an increased sensitivity to drought given the function of the observed differentially expressed proteins, such as redox homeostasis, cell rescue/defense, hormone regulation and protein biosynthesis and degradation. Lo964 possessed a more stable status with fewer differentially expressed proteins. However, B73 seems to rapidly initiate signaling pathways in response to drought through adjusting diverse defense pathways. These changes in protein expression allow for the production of a drought stress-responsive network in maize kernels.
Highlights
Field crops endure various environmental stresses throughout their life cycle, which affect their growth and development and, hamper crop yield and quality [1]
Comparative proteomic analysis was used to investigate the changes of protein profiles in kernels of
Based on the described comparative analyses of drought responsive proteins, as well as the sequential events in B73 and Lo964 under drought stress, we propose a comprehensive model to illustrate the cellular events leading to drought resistance or adaptation (Figure 5)
Summary
Field crops endure various environmental stresses throughout their life cycle, which affect their growth and development and, hamper crop yield and quality [1]. Among these environmental factors, drought is considered the single most devastating stress, decreasing crop productivity more than any other abiotic factor [2]. As a cereal crop with a large annual global production, maize yield and quality are crucial agronomic traits, which are continuously constrained and destabilized due to drought [3]. Though affected throughout all growth stages, maize is most sensitive to drought stress during pollination and grain-filling [3]. As well, aflatoxin-resistant lines tend to be drought tolerant [5,8,9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
