Stress-related genes define essential steps in the response of maize seedlings to smoke-water.
Smoke from burning vegetation is widely recognised as a germination cue for seed germination and recent reports suggest that smoke treatments can improve seedling vigour also. We investigated the effect of smoke-water on seedling vigour and changes of the global transcriptome in the early post-germination phase in maize. Application of smoke-water improved the germination characteristics and seedling vigour. The transcriptional response of embryos and emerging radicles 24 and 48 h after the onset of smoke treatment was investigated. The microarray study revealed a number of smoke-responsive genes amongst which stress- and abscisic acid (ABA)-related genes were over-represented. The global promoter analysis of the smoke-responsive genes revealed a tight correlation with the results obtained from Gene Ontology annotations. This concerted over-expression shows that smoke treatment induces stress and ABA-related responses in the early post-germination phase which leads to better adaptation to environmental stress factors occurring during germination, eventually resulting in greater seedling vigour.
Soós
Vilmos
V
Department of Applied Genomics, Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (ARI-HAS), Martonvásár, Hungary.
Sebestyén
Endre
E
Juhász
Angéla
A
Pintér
János
J
Light
Marnie E
ME
Van Staden
Johannes
J
Balázs
Ervin
E
D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D017343:Genes, Plant; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018749:RNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D036226:Seedlings / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D012906:Smoke; D013312:Stress, Physiological; D014867:Water; D003313:Zea mays / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D018749:RNA, Plant; D012906:Smoke; D014867:Water; D000040:Abscisic Acid