{
  "abstract": "Biostimulant-induced responses in plants are dynamic, involving rapid signaling events followed by slower, downstream transcriptional and metabolic adjustments. To characterize the temporal molecular responses of maize to two biostimulant formulations, including fulvic acid (BLG) and mixture of fulvic acid and Quillaja extract (BLGQ), RNA sequencing was performed on leaf tissues collected at two time points representing the early (3 h) and later (27 h) transcriptional responses following biostimulant application. Differential gene expression, functional enrichment, and transcription factor analyses were subsequently conducted to compare the two treatments with untreated controls. Early responses revealed rapid activation of hormone signaling, ion transport, proteostasis, and transcription factor (TF) networks, with BLGQ inducing broader and stronger transcriptional changes compared to BLG. Notably, TF families such as ERF, NAC, C2H2, WRKY, and MYB-related were prominently upregulated, suggesting early transcriptional activation of genes associated withstress, growth, and developmental pathways. Later responses showed that BLG predominantly reinforced broad metabolic, redox, and transcriptional regulatory networks, whereas BLGQ emphasized signaling integration, vesicle trafficking, and secondary metabolism. Differential transcription factor modulation further highlighted stimulus- and time-specific strategies: BLG sustained upregulation of MYB-related, NAC, GRAS, and ERF TFs, while BLGQ selectively balanced upregulation and downregulation of NF-YB, HSF, and bZIP families to fine-tune signaling and specialized pathways. These transcriptomic results suggest that maize responses to biostimulants are highly dynamic and stimulus-specific, with BLG response associated with broader transcriptional changes in genes involved in general adaptive processes, whereas BLGQ response associated with more specific signaling and regulatory pathways. Our results provide transcriptomic insight into the temporal layers of biostimulant action and underline the importance of time-resolved analyses for understanding plant growth and stress adaptation.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Plant Agriculture, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada",
    "BioLiNE® Corporation, Alvinston, ON, Canada",
    "Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, Texas, United States of America"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mohsen Hesami"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Mohammad Rahbari"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Ron A. Salzman"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b0yqzxtjdsenq.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pone.0360081",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "b0yqzxtjdsenq",
  "issns": [
    "1932-6203"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360081",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1110|Plant Growth Enhancement Techniques"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Biochemistry/Proteins/DNA-binding proteins/Transcription factors"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Biochemistry/Proteins/Regulatory proteins/Transcription factors"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Signal transduction/Cell signaling/Redox signaling"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Cell biology/Signal transduction/Cell signaling/Signaling cascades/Stress signaling cascade"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression/DNA transcription"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression/Gene regulation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression/Gene regulation/Transcription factors"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Genetics/Gene expression/Gene regulation/Transcriptional control"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Organisms/Eukaryota/Plants/Grasses/Maize"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Research and analysis methods/Animal studies/Experimental organism systems/Model organisms/Maize"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Research and analysis methods/Animal studies/Experimental organism systems/Plant and algal models/Maize"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Research and analysis methods/Model organisms/Maize"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221055645",
  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0360081&type=printable",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-08",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b0yqzxtjdsenq.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:30Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pone.0360081",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0360081"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "plos:gene expression",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Temporal and stimulus-specific transcriptional responses of maize to a biostimulant mixture of quillaja extract and fulvic acid",
  "title_text": "Temporal and stimulus-specific transcriptional responses of maize to a biostimulant mixture of quillaja extract and fulvic acid",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:30Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/b0yqzxtjdsenq",
  "venue": "PLOS One",
  "versions": []
}