Heat-Resistant Inbred Lines Coordinate the Heat Response Genes Expression Remarkably in Maize
High temperature is increasingly becoming one of the prominent environmental factors affecting the growth and development of maize (Zea mays L.). Therefore, it is critical to identify key genes and pathways related to heat stress (HS) tolerance in maize. Here, we identified a heat-resistant (Z58D) and heat-sensitive (AF171) maize inbred lines at seedling stage. Transcriptomic analysis identified 3,006 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in AF171 and 4,273 DEGs in Z58D under HS treatments, respectively. Subsequently, GO enrichment analysis showed that shared upregulated genes in AF171 and Z58D involved in response to HS, protein folding, abiotic and temperature stimulus pathway. Moreover, the comparison between the two inbred lines under HS showed that response to heat and response to temperature stimulus significantly overrepresented for the 1,234 upregulated genes. Furthermore, commonly upregulated genes in Z58D and AF171 had higher expression level in Z58D than AF171. In addition, maize inbred CIMBL55 had been verified to be more tolerant than B73 and commonly upregulated genes  had higher expression level in CIMBL55 than B73 under HS. The consistent results indicated that heat-resistant inbred lines may coordinate the remarkable expression of genes in order to recover from HS. Additionally, 35 DEGs were conserved among 5 inbred lines by a comparative transcriptomic analysis. Most of them were more pronounced in Z58D than AF171 at expression level. Those candidate genes may confer thermotolerance in maize. Overall design: Sequencing data of leaf of heat-sensitive and heat-resistant line under normalcondition and heat stress condition