ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germination
Maize (Zea mays L.), a globally significant cereal crop, is produced in vast quantities worldwide. However, its growth is severely constrained by low temperatures, particularly during seed germination, which significantly impairs seedling emergence. In this study, genetic diversity across six germin...
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KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Crop Journal |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514125001114 |
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| author | Qingyu Xu Yiying Song Di Bao Lingzhi Meng Hong Di Lin Zhang Ling Dong Xing Zeng Jiayue Zhang Chunxiang Li Jiapeng Xing Naifu Zhang Xin Li Jianfeng Weng Zhenhua Wang Yu Zhou |
| author_facet | Qingyu Xu Yiying Song Di Bao Lingzhi Meng Hong Di Lin Zhang Ling Dong Xing Zeng Jiayue Zhang Chunxiang Li Jiapeng Xing Naifu Zhang Xin Li Jianfeng Weng Zhenhua Wang Yu Zhou |
| author_sort | Qingyu Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Maize (Zea mays L.), a globally significant cereal crop, is produced in vast quantities worldwide. However, its growth is severely constrained by low temperatures, particularly during seed germination, which significantly impairs seedling emergence. In this study, genetic diversity across six germination-associated phenotypic traits (RGR, RSL, RTL, RRSA, RRV, and RSVI) of 304 inbred lines was analyzed, to evaluate the capacity of these lines for low-temperature tolerance. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was carried out by combining six germination-associated phenotypic traits and genotypic data from 30-fold resequencing. The gene ZmBARK1 was identified through integrated GWAS and RNA-seq analyses, and its association with low-temperature tolerance during maize germination was validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). ZmBARK1, encoding BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1-associated receptor kinase 1, was located on the bin 4.09 region of maize chromosome 4. Amino acid comparison and subcellular localization analyses revealed that ZmBARK1 is highly homologous to AtBAK1 and is localized to the plasma membrane of the cell, which may be involved in regulating brassinosteroid (BR) signaling. In addition, we revealed the role of ZmBARK1 in low-temperature tolerance during maize germination. Compared with wild-type (WT), the ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutant zmbark1 was characterized by substantially enhanced low-temperature tolerance. Overall, these findings provide promising candidate genes, improve low-temperature tolerance in maize, and advance the understanding of regulatory mechanisms underlying maize’s response to low-temperature stress. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-75d056721cbf4fca85df16b52d4c34e9 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2214-5141 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Crop Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-75d056721cbf4fca85df16b52d4c34e92025-08-22T04:56:28ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Crop Journal2214-51412025-08-011341197120910.1016/j.cj.2025.04.012ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germinationQingyu Xu0Yiying Song1Di Bao2Lingzhi Meng3Hong Di4Lin Zhang5Ling Dong6Xing Zeng7Jiayue Zhang8Chunxiang Li9Jiapeng Xing10Naifu Zhang11Xin Li12Jianfeng Weng13Zhenhua Wang14Yu Zhou15Key Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaCollege of Agriculture and Biology of Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252000, Shandong, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaKey Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Crop Gene Resources and Breeding, Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China; Corresponding authors.Key Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, China; Corresponding authors.Key Laboratory of Germplasm Enhancement, Physiology and Ecology of Food Crops in Cold Region, Engineering Technology Research Center of Maize Germplasm Resources Innovation on Cold land of Heilongjiang Province, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150030, Heilongjiang, China; Corresponding authors.Maize (Zea mays L.), a globally significant cereal crop, is produced in vast quantities worldwide. However, its growth is severely constrained by low temperatures, particularly during seed germination, which significantly impairs seedling emergence. In this study, genetic diversity across six germination-associated phenotypic traits (RGR, RSL, RTL, RRSA, RRV, and RSVI) of 304 inbred lines was analyzed, to evaluate the capacity of these lines for low-temperature tolerance. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) was carried out by combining six germination-associated phenotypic traits and genotypic data from 30-fold resequencing. The gene ZmBARK1 was identified through integrated GWAS and RNA-seq analyses, and its association with low-temperature tolerance during maize germination was validated by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). ZmBARK1, encoding BRASSINOSTEROID INSENSITIVE 1-associated receptor kinase 1, was located on the bin 4.09 region of maize chromosome 4. Amino acid comparison and subcellular localization analyses revealed that ZmBARK1 is highly homologous to AtBAK1 and is localized to the plasma membrane of the cell, which may be involved in regulating brassinosteroid (BR) signaling. In addition, we revealed the role of ZmBARK1 in low-temperature tolerance during maize germination. Compared with wild-type (WT), the ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) mutant zmbark1 was characterized by substantially enhanced low-temperature tolerance. Overall, these findings provide promising candidate genes, improve low-temperature tolerance in maize, and advance the understanding of regulatory mechanisms underlying maize’s response to low-temperature stress.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514125001114MaizeLow-temperatureGWASRNA-seqZmBARK1 |
| spellingShingle | Qingyu Xu Yiying Song Di Bao Lingzhi Meng Hong Di Lin Zhang Ling Dong Xing Zeng Jiayue Zhang Chunxiang Li Jiapeng Xing Naifu Zhang Xin Li Jianfeng Weng Zhenhua Wang Yu Zhou ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germination Crop Journal Maize Low-temperature GWAS RNA-seq ZmBARK1 |
| title | ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germination |
| title_full | ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germination |
| title_fullStr | ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germination |
| title_full_unstemmed | ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germination |
| title_short | ZmBARK1 as a low-temperature tolerance gene in maize germination |
| title_sort | zmbark1 as a low temperature tolerance gene in maize germination |
| topic | Maize Low-temperature GWAS RNA-seq ZmBARK1 |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214514125001114 |
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