Light-defined cold acclimation reprograms organ-specific metabolic and transcriptional landscapes for salt stress responses in maize.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Plant Physiology and Metabolomics, Agricultural Institute, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Brunszvik u. 2., 2462, Martonvásár, Hungary.
- 2Department of Plant Physiology and Metabolomics, Agricultural Institute, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Brunszvik u. 2., 2462, Martonvásár, Hungary. [email protected].
- 3Beijing Key Laboratory of Development and Quality Control of Ornamental Crops, College of Horticulture China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
- 4Center for High Technology Research and Development, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, No.18 Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi City, Vietnam.
Abstract
Key message
Cold acclimation of young maize plants induced a light-dependent, organ-specific reprogramming at the metabolomic and gene expression levels, which significantly altered responses to salinity. It has been shown that light plays a decisive role in cold acclimation in plants. The core objective of the present work was to elucidate how light conditions during cold acclimation affect subsequent salt stress responses by co-regulating various processes among organs maize (Zea mays L.). Plants were cold-acclimated under sufficient light or shade and subsequently exposed to severe cold or salinity. Organ-specific analyses of leaves, stems, and roots combined chlorophyll fluorescence measurements with targeted and untargeted metabolomics, hormone and polyamine profiling, and stress-related gene expression were studied. Cold acclimation under sufficient light established organ-specific metabolic and transcriptional reprogramming that substantially altered subsequent salt stress responses. Light-acclimated plants showed coordinated, pathway-level metabolic adjustments across organs and distinct regulation of key stress-responsive genes, particularly in leaves and roots. Analyses indicated systemic, rather than isolated, metabolic rearrangements. These findings demonstrate that cold acclimation, depending on light intensity, establishes an organ-coordinated acclimated state that modulates subsequent salinity responses, highlighting the importance of environmental history and inter-organ regulation in stress adaptation. This study is the first to systematically reveal the organ-specific and systemic regulatory network underlying the light-temperature-salt interaction in maize.
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BibTeX
@article{benczur2026lightdefined,
title = {{Light-defined cold acclimation reprograms organ-specific metabolic and transcriptional landscapes for salt stress responses in maize.}},
author = {Kinga Benczúr and Fatemeh Gholizadeh and Magda Pál and Tibor Janda and Kamirán Áron Hamow and Mihály Dernovics and Katalin Nagy and Imre Majláth and Eva Darko and Jian Wu and Nhan Van Le and Gabriella Szalai},
journal = {Plant cell reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s00299-026-04008-z},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42831898},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Light-defined cold acclimation reprograms organ-specific metabolic and transcriptional landscapes for salt stress responses in maize.
AU - Kinga Benczúr
AU - Fatemeh Gholizadeh
AU - Magda Pál
AU - Tibor Janda
AU - Kamirán Áron Hamow
AU - Mihály Dernovics
AU - Katalin Nagy
AU - Imre Majláth
AU - Eva Darko
AU - Jian Wu
AU - Nhan Van Le
AU - Gabriella Szalai
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
JO - Plant cell reports
DO - 10.1007/s00299-026-04008-z
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42831898
AB - Key message Cold acclimation of young maize plants induced a light-dependent, organ-specific reprogramming at the metabolomic and gene expression levels, which significantly altered responses to salinity. It has been shown that light plays a decisive role in cold acclimation in plants. The core objective of the present work was to elucidate how light conditions during cold acclimation affect subsequent salt stress responses by co-regulating various processes among organs maize (Zea mays L.). Plants were cold-acclimated under sufficient light or shade and subsequently exposed to severe cold or salinity. Organ-specific analyses of leaves, stems, and roots combined chlorophyll fluorescence measurements with targeted and untargeted metabolomics, hormone and polyamine profiling, and stress-related gene expression were studied. Cold acclimation under sufficient light established organ-specific metabolic and transcriptional reprogramming that substantially altered subsequent salt stress responses. Light-acclimated plants showed coordinated, pathway-level metabolic adjustments across organs and distinct regulation of key stress-responsive genes, particularly in leaves and roots. Analyses indicated systemic, rather than isolated, metabolic rearrangements. These findings demonstrate that cold acclimation, depending on light intensity, establishes an organ-coordinated acclimated state that modulates subsequent salinity responses, highlighting the importance of environmental history and inter-organ regulation in stress adaptation. This study is the first to systematically reveal the organ-specific and systemic regulatory network underlying the light-temperature-salt interaction in maize.
SN - 0721-7714
SN - 1432-203X
ER -