Transcription factors ZmNF-YA1 and ZmNF-YB16 regulate plant growth and drought tolerance in maize

Abstract

The identification of drought stress regulatory genes is crucial for the genetic improvement of maize (Zea mays L.) yield. Nuclear factors Y (NF-Ys) are important transcription factors, but their roles in the drought stress tolerance of plants and underlying molecular mechanisms are largely unknown. In this work, we used yeast two-hybrid screening to identify potential interactors of ZmNF-YB16 and confirmed the interaction between ZmNF-YA1 and ZmNF-YB16-YC17 and between ZmNF-YA7 and ZmNF-YB16-YC17. ZmNF-YB16 interacted with ZmNF-YC17 via its histone fold domain to form a heterodimer in the cytoplasm and then entered the nucleus to form a heterotrimer with ZmNF-YA1 or ZmNF-YA7 under osmotic stress. Overexpression of ZmNF-YA1 improved drought and salt stress tolerance and root development of maize, whereas zmnf-ya1 mutants exhibited drought and salt stress sensitivity. ZmNF-YA1-mediated transcriptional regulation, especially in JA signaling, histone modification, and chromatin remodeling, could underlie the altered stress tolerance of zmnf-ya1 mutant plants. ZmNF-YA1 bound to promoter CCAAT motifs and directly regulated the expression of multiple genes that play important roles in stress responses and plant development. Comparison of ZmNF-YB16- and ZmNF-YA1-regulated genes showed that ZmNF-YA1 and ZmNF-YB16 have similar biological functions in stress responses but varied functions in other biological processes. Taken together, ZmNF-YA1 is a positive regulator of plant drought and salt stress responses and is involved in the root development of maize, and ZmNF-Y complexes with different subunits may have discrepant functions.

Identification and expression analysis of maize NF-YA subunit genes

“…The naming is consistent with the binding of CBFB_NF-YA, a conserved domain in the associated NF-YA subunit genes, to the NF-YB subunit. Yang et al (2022) confirmed that ZmNF-YB16 interacts with ZmNF-YC17 through its histone-folding domain to form a heterodimer in the cytoplasm. Then, the complex enters the nucleus under osmotic-stress conditions to form a heterotrimer with ZmNF-YA1 or ZmNF-YA7 (ZmNFYA08 in this study), forming the first identified ZmNF-Y transcriptional regulatory complex in maize ( Yang et al, 2022 ).…”

“… Yang et al (2022) confirmed that ZmNF-YB16 interacts with ZmNF-YC17 through its histone-folding domain to form a heterodimer in the cytoplasm. Then, the complex enters the nucleus under osmotic-stress conditions to form a heterotrimer with ZmNF-YA1 or ZmNF-YA7 (ZmNFYA08 in this study), forming the first identified ZmNF-Y transcriptional regulatory complex in maize ( Yang et al, 2022 ). These results laid a foundation for elucidating the functions and regulatory mechanisms of maize NF-YA subunit genes.…”

“…The overexpression of ZmNF-YA1 enhances drought and salt tolerance and promotes root development in maize, whereas the zmnf-ya1 mutant shows drought and salt sensitivity ( Yang et al, 2022 ). In this study, ZmNFYA01 was highly expressed during embryogenesis and positively regulated maize disease resistance, suggesting that it played important roles in maize growth and development.…”

Transcriptomic and biochemical analyses of drought response mechanism in mung bean (Vignaradiata (L.) Wilczek) leaves

“…Transcription factors (TF) play important roles in plant development and stress tolerance [ 30 ]. In this study, 1270 TFs coming from 158 TF families were screened from total DEGs ( S5 Appendix ), visualization shown in Fig 4 .…”

Drought stress tolerance mechanisms and their potential common indicators to salinity, insights from the wild watermelon (Citrullus lanatus): A review

“…DEEPER ROOTING 1 (DRO1), SURFACE ROOTING (SRO1), AUXIN RESPONSE FACTOR 7 (ARF7), HIGH-AFFINITY K + TRANSPORTERS (HKT1) and CYCLOPHILIN (CYP) have been documented to be responsible in developing deeper and lateral rooting in various crops like rice ( Singh et al., 2021 ; Uga et al., 2013 ), maize ( Feng et al., 2022 ) and Arabidopsis ( Guseman et al., 2017 ) thus suggesting an active role in the plants tolerance and avoidance to abiotic stress. Several other factors like QTLs and like qRT9 ( Li et al., 2015 ), qTLRN, qLLRN ( Niones et al., 2015 ) transcription factors like NACs ( Thao et al., 2013 ), MYB ( Zhao P. et al., 2019 ), NFY Family ( Yang et al, 2022 ), has been suggested to play a significant role in the root architecture of plants during drought stress. Further molecular mechanisms playing an active role in the root morphological characteristics of various plants are documented in Table 1 .…”