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Peer-reviewedCC BYThe Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology

Deciphering the molecular basis of maize cold tolerance via integrative regulatory network analysis.

  • Tianshuo Li1
  • Wei Wang1
  • Chuang Jiang1
  • Jinkui Cheng2
  • Fei Yi1
  • Liusheng Duan1,3
  1. 1State Key Laboratory of Plant Environmental Resilience, Engineering Research Center of Plant Growth Regulator, Ministry of Education & College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, No.2 Yuanmingyuan West Road, Haidian, Beijing, China.
  2. 2Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
  3. 3College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
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Abstract

Maize (Zea mays L.) is a globally critical but cold-sensitive crop. Understanding the temporal organization of cold-responsive, circadian-associated, and hormone-associated transcriptional programs is essential for deciphering how plants balance growth and survival under cold stress to ensure food security. We performed high-resolution time-series RNA-seq on 108 maize seedling samples across 14 time points (0-36 h cold stress and 24 h recovery). Coronatine (COR) was utilized as a defined JA-associated chemical perturbation to probe hormone-associated transcriptional responses during cold stress. We identified 12 986 cold-responsive and 2259 recovery-responsive genes, revealing a recovery-associated transcriptional transition characterized by suppressed photosynthesis-related processes and enrichment of genes associated with lipid catabolism, accompanied by transient physiological stress during early recovery. Cold stress induced widespread phase shifts and reduced oscillation amplitudes among circadian-associated transcripts, while COR identified distinct hormone-associated transcriptional modules and candidate network-associated genes, including ZmWRKY71 and ZmHSP28, whose roles were further supported by molecular and genetic analyses. This study establishes a temporally resolved transcriptional framework for maize cold stress and recovery, integrating transcriptional dynamics, physiological responses, and experimentally supported regulatory nodes.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{li2026deciphering,
  title = {{Deciphering the molecular basis of maize cold tolerance via integrative regulatory network analysis.}},
  author = {Tianshuo Li and Wei Wang and Chuang Jiang and Jinkui Cheng and Fei Yi and Liusheng Duan},
  journal = {The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1111/tpj.71197},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958741},
  note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Deciphering the molecular basis of maize cold tolerance via integrative regulatory network analysis.
AU  - Tianshuo Li
AU  - Wei Wang
AU  - Chuang Jiang
AU  - Jinkui Cheng
AU  - Fei Yi
AU  - Liusheng Duan
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/29
JO  - The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology
DO  - 10.1111/tpj.71197
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42958741
AB  - Maize (Zea mays L.) is a globally critical but cold-sensitive crop. Understanding the temporal organization of cold-responsive, circadian-associated, and hormone-associated transcriptional programs is essential for deciphering how plants balance growth and survival under cold stress to ensure food security. We performed high-resolution time-series RNA-seq on 108 maize seedling samples across 14 time points (0-36 h cold stress and 24 h recovery). Coronatine (COR) was utilized as a defined JA-associated chemical perturbation to probe hormone-associated transcriptional responses during cold stress. We identified 12 986 cold-responsive and 2259 recovery-responsive genes, revealing a recovery-associated transcriptional transition characterized by suppressed photosynthesis-related processes and enrichment of genes associated with lipid catabolism, accompanied by transient physiological stress during early recovery. Cold stress induced widespread phase shifts and reduced oscillation amplitudes among circadian-associated transcripts, while COR identified distinct hormone-associated transcriptional modules and candidate network-associated genes, including ZmWRKY71 and ZmHSP28, whose roles were further supported by molecular and genetic analyses. This study establishes a temporally resolved transcriptional framework for maize cold stress and recovery, integrating transcriptional dynamics, physiological responses, and experimentally supported regulatory nodes.
SN  - 0960-7412
SN  - 1365-313X
ER  -