Analysis of Differentially Expressed Transcription Factor Genes in Maize (Zea mays) Under Drought Stress and Re-watering
ZHANG Peng-Yu1,2, WANG Guo-Rui2, CAO Li-Ru1,2, YUAN Zhen2, KU Li-Xia1,2, WANG Tong-Chao1,2*, WEI Li2*
1 The Collaborative Innovation Center of Henan Food Crops, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China; 2 College of Agriculture, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
Abstract：Drought stress is a major limiting factor affecting high and stable yield of crop and the transcription factors (TFs) play crucial roles in plant response to drought stress. In this study, 20% PEG6000 was used to simulate drought stress in the seedling stage, and the changes in the expression of expressed transcription genes in maize (Zea mays) leaves under drought stress for 60, 96 h and re-watering after 3 d were analyzed by RNA-sequence (RNA-seq) technology. The results showed that, a total of 56 transcription factor families were detected in transcriptome sequencing, with a total of 2 270 transcription factor genes, and the number of differentially expressed transcription factor genes was 556, accounting for 24.49% of the total. Compared with the control, the number of differentially expressed transcription factor genes was the lowest under drought stress at 96 h. After re-watering 3 d, the number of differentially expressed transcription factor genes was the highest and it was mainly down-regulated. Among the differentially expressed TF genes, members of the bHLH (basic helix-loop-helix), C2H2, ERF (ethylene responsive factor), MYB (v-avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog), NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC1/2) and WRKY families were more abundant. According to the Venn plot analysis of differentially expressed transcription factor genes, a total of 37 transcription factor genes were differentially expressed at 3 treatment points under drought stress and rewatering, distributed among 15 transcription factor families, of which the number of WRKY family was the most enriched. The results would provide theoretical basis for further exploring the molecular response mechanism of maize transcription factor family to drought stress.
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