Transcriptome analysis reveals the molecular mechanism of yield increases in maize under stable soil water supply

Abstract

This study explored the physiological and molecular mechanisms of yield increase in maize under stable soil water content (SW) conditions. Results of the study showed that under SW conditions, corn yield increased by 38.72 and 44.09% in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Further, it was found that dry matter accumulation, economic coefficient and photosynthetic rate also increased by 31.24 and 25.67%, 5.45 and 15.38% as well as 29.60 and 31.83% in 2019 and 2020 respectively. However, the results showed that both the activity of antioxidant enzymes and content of osmotic adjustment substances decreased in maize under SW conditions. When compared with soil moisture content of dry and wet alternation (DW) conditions, SW could not only significantly promote growth and yield of maize but also increase the economic coefficient. Transcriptome profiles of maize leaves under the two conditions (SW and DW) were also analyzed and compared. It was found that 11 genes were highly up-regulated in the photosynthesis pathway. These genes included photosystem II protein V (PsbE), photosystem II protein VI (PsbF), photosystem II protein D1 (PsbA), photosystem II protein D2 (PsbD) and ATP synthase CF1 beta subunit (atpB). Further, it was found that four genes were up-regulated in the oxidative phosphorylation pathway., These were ATP synthase CF1 epsilon subunit (atpE), ATP synthase CF1 beta subunit (atpB), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4L (ndhE) and NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 (ndhG). In conclusion, the physiological mechanism of stable soil water content (SW) to increase corn yield may be the enhancement of photosynthetic capacity and energy metabolism.

Transcriptomic Analysis of Three Differentially Senescing Maize (Zea mays L.) Inbred Lines upon Heat Stress

“…Our enrichment analysis further showed that ATP synthesis and oxidative phosphorylation pathways were significantly enriched in SH19B, which provided clues to explore the molecular basis of the differences in response to heat stress among the three inbred lines ( Figure S3 ). Similar to our results, related transcriptome analyses have shown that oxidative phosphorylation plays an important role in response to environmental stress [ 38 , 39 , 40 ]. Mitochondria produce ATP through oxidative phosphorylation and also produce ROS, which causes damage to plant cells [ 41 ].…”

Effects of stable and fluctuating soil water on the agronomic and biological performance of root vegetables

“…According to Wang (2020) , SW improved the photosynthesis of romaine lettuces and a similar phenomenon was observed in our findings. In addition, studies have found that under steady water supply, significant changes were observed in cell components linked to maize photosynthesis, including chloroplasts, plastids, and thylakoids, and genes such as psbE , psbF , psbA , and psbD related to photosystems were highly regulated ( Zhang et al., 2021b ). This may explain why SW increased the crop Photo.…”

“…This technology uses a water potential difference caused by the negative pressure system, soil evaporation and plant transpiration to control water supply, and it can continuously and stably supply water to plants, which helps manage soil water fluctuations ( Yang et al., 2022a ). The technology can not only be used for studying SWC effects on crop performance, but also for assessing the effects of soil water stability ( Zhang et al., 2021b ; Niu et al., 2022 ).…”

“…Elsewhere, long-term and stable irrigation during the tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum L.) growing period was found to minimize water consumption while increasing WUE, and the development and quality of flue-cured tobacco could be promoted by using appropriate SWC ( Yang et al., 2022b ). Similarly, studies on maize ( Zea mays L.) have shown that SW could significantly promote economic factors in addition to growth and yield, compared with soil water state under wet and dry conditions ( Zhang et al., 2021b ; Zhang et al., 2022b ). Despite these promising effects of SW conditions on the aboveground yield of the assessed crops ( Niu et al., 2022 ; Yang et al., 2022b ; Zhang et al., 2022a ), their effects on root crops, particularly root vegetables, remain unknown.…”

RNA-seq reveals the gene expression in patterns in Populus × euramericana 'Neva' plantation forests under different precision water and fertilizer-intensive management

“…This implies that irrigation at a greater depth in uenced cotton yield by inducing drought stress. Zhang et al [19] found that stable soil water content (SW) conditions not only increased maize (Zea mays L.) growth and yield signi cantly but also highly up-regulated expression of lots of DEGs in the photosynthesis (including PsbE, PsbF, PsbA, PsbD, etc.) and oxidative phosphorylation pathway (including atpE, atpB, ndhE, ndhG, etc.…”