Bushra Rehman¹, Asma Zulfiqar¹, Houneida Attia², Rehana Sardar³, Muneera A. Saleh², Khalid H. Alamer⁴, Ibtisam M. Alsudays⁵, Faisal Mehmood⁶, Qamar uz Zaman^7,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.8, pp. 1819-1838, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.048780 - 30 August 2024

Abstract Salinity is a major abiotic stress that hinders plant development and productivity and influences agricultural yield. Seed priming is a technique used to boost germination and seedling growth under abiotic stress. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the impact of seed priming with potassium nitrate (KNO₃) at various levels (0%, 0.50%, 1.00% and 1.50%) under salt stress (0, 75, 100 mM NaCl) on two maize verities (MNH360 and 30T60) for the growth, development and metabolic attributes results revealed that in maize variety MNH360, KNO₃ priming’s significantly enhanced growth parameters than in maize variety 30T60 under… More >

Xin Qi^1,#, Yu Wang^1,#, Xing Zhang¹, Xiaoshuang Wei¹, Xinyang Liu¹, Zhennan Wang¹, Zhenhui Wang^1,*, Fenglou Ling^2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.7, pp. 1767-1779, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.052844 - 30 July 2024

Abstract DNA methylation is an important epigenetic regulatory mechanism, it regulates gene expression by recruiting proteins involved in gene repression or by inhibiting the binding of transcription factor(s) to DNA. In this study, a novel methyltransferase 2a gene (Zmet2a) was cloned in maize and identified by polymerase chain reaction-base (PCR-base) using a bioinformatics strategy. The Zmet2a cDNA sequence is 2739 bp long and translates to 912 amino acid peptides. The Zmet2a protein revealed that it contains BAH and CHROMO structural domains, is a non-transmembrane protein that is hydrophilically unstable, and has no signal peptide structure. Meanwhile, we verified More >

Pengcheng Li^1,2,#, Tianze Zhu^1,#, Yunyun Wang^1,2, Shuangyi Yin¹, Xinjie Zhu¹, Minggang Ji¹, Wenye Rui¹, Houmiao Wang¹, Zefeng Yang^1,2,*, Chenwu Xu^1,2,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.7, pp. 1441-1453, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.052219 - 30 July 2024

Abstract The nutritional composition and overall quality of maize kernels are largely determined by the key chemical components: protein, oil, and starch. Nevertheless, the genetic basis underlying these nutritional quality traits during grain filling remains poorly understood. In this study, the concentrations of protein, oil, and starch were studied in 204 recombinant inbred lines resulting from a cross between DH1M and T877 at four different stages post-pollination. All the traits exhibited considerable phenotypic variation. During the grain-filling stage, the levels of protein and starch content generally increased, whereas oil content decreased, with significant changes observed between… More >

Mingzhao Han¹, Susilawati Kasim^1,*, Zhongming Yang², Xi Deng², Md Kamal Uddin¹, Noor Baity Saidi³, Effyanti Mohd Shuib¹

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.93, No.2, pp. 213-226, 2024, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2024.047150 - 27 February 2024

Abstract Drought stress is a major factor affecting plant growth and crop yield production. Plant extracts as natural biostimulants hold great potential to strengthen plants to overcome drought impacts. To explore the effect of Polygonum minus extract (PME) in enhancing drought tolerance in plants, a study was set up in a glasshouse environment using 10 different treatment combinations. PME foliar application were designed in CRD and effects were closely observed related to the growth, physiology, and antioxidant system changes in maize (Zea mays L.) under well-watered and drought conditions. The seaweed extract (SWE) was used as a comparison.… More >

Yongjing Xi, Zhou Yang, Yukun Jin, Jing Qu, Shuyan Guan, Siyan Liu, Piwu Wang^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.4, pp. 1257-1274, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.025918 - 06 January 2023

Abstract PCR detection, quantitative real-time PCR (q-RTPCR), outdoor insect resistance, and disease resistance identification were carried out for the detection of genetic stability and disease resistance through generations (T₂, T₃, and T₄) in transgenic maize germplasms (S3002 and 349) containing the bivalent genes (insect resistance gene Cry1Ab13-1 and disease resistance gene NPR1) and their corresponding wild type. Results indicated that the target genes Cry1Ab13-1 and NPR1 were successfully transferred into both germplasms through tested generations; q-PCR confirmed the expression of Cry1Ab13-1 and NPR1 genes in roots, stems, and leaves of tested maize plants. In addition, S3002 and 349 bivalent gene-transformed lines More >

Xiaojie Jing^1,2,3,#, Chunyan Li^1,2,3,#, Chengjuan Luo^1,2,3, Chaonan Yao^1,2,3, Jiahao Zhang^1,2,3, Tingting Zhu^1,2,3, Jiuguang Wang^1,2,3, Chaoxian Liu^1,2,3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.92, No.3, pp. 707-723, 2023, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2023.024338 - 29 November 2022

Abstract The zinc finger homeodomain (ZF-HD) genes belong to the homeobox gene family, playing critical roles in flower development and stress response. Despite their importance, however, to date there has been no genome-wide identification and characterization of the ZF-HD genes that are probably involved in stress responses in maize. In this study, 24 ZF-HD genes were identified, and their chromosomal locations, protein properties, duplication patterns, structures, conserved motifs and expression patterns were investigated. The results revealed that the ZF-HD genes are unevenly distributed on nine chromosomes and that most of these genes lack introns. Six and… More >

M. Ashraf Ahangar¹, Shabir Hussain Wani^1,*, Zahoor A. Dar², Jan Roohi¹, Fayaz Mohiddin¹, Monika Bansal³, Mukesh Choudhary⁴, Sumit K. Aggarwal⁴, S. A. Waza¹, Khursheed Ahmad Dar⁵, Ayman El Sabagh^6,7, Celaleddin Barutcular⁸, Omer Konuşkan⁹, Mohammad Anwar Hossain^10,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.10, pp. 2111-2133, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.020721 - 30 May 2022

Abstract Maize is cultivated extensively throughout the world and has the highest production among cereals. However, Northern corn leaf blight (NCLB) disease caused by Exherohilum turcicum, is the most devastating limiting factor of maize production. The disease causes immense losses to corn yield if it develops prior or during the tasseling and silking stages of crop development. It has a worldwide distribution and its development is favoured by cool to moderate temperatures with high relative humidity. The prevalence of the disease has increased in recent years and new races of the pathogen have been reported worldwide. The… More >

Lingyan Hu, Haiyan Chen, Guangqun Zhang, Zihao Yu, Kai Yan, Fangdong Zhan, Yongmei He^*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.9, pp. 1933-1944, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.020041 - 13 May 2022

Abstract Indoleacetic acid (IAA) is an important regulator that plays a crucial role in plant growth and responses to abiotic stresses. In the present study, a sand cultivation experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of IAA at different concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 2.5 mmol/L) on maize growth, root morphology, mineral elements (Ca, Mg) and Cd uptake under 20 mg/kg Cd stress. The results showed that 0.01 mmol/L is the optimal IAA concentration for enhancing the Cd tolerance of maize. Compared with the control treatment, 0.01 mmol/L IAA promoted maize growth, with… More >

Xiaotong Wei^1,#, Xuhong Fan^2,#, Xuan Lu¹, Liyuan Han¹, Honglin Zhang³, Siyan Liu³, Jing Qu³, Shuyan Guan^3,*, Yiyong Ma^3,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.9, pp. 1945-1957, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.020062 - 13 May 2022

Abstract

The embryos of maize (Zea mays L.) inbred lines GS02, GS07, GS08, GS11 and GS15 were used as receptor materials to optimize the receptor system from the aspects of genotype, medium components and stress (PEG6000, mannitol, salt and low phosphorus). The results showed that GS07 had the highest induction rate (95.2%). Orthogonal test analysis showed that the best combination of medium components in induction was A₂B₃C₁D₃₍₂₎, namely, the concentration of 2, 4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) was 4 mg·mL^-1, the concentration of L-Proline (L-Pro) was 0.8 mg·mL^-1, and the concentration of silver nitrate (AgNO₃) was 10 mg·mL^-1 (or 5 mg·mL).

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Jing Qu¹, Shuang Liu², Peng Jiao², Zhenzhong Jiang², Jianbo Fei², Shuyan Guan^1,*, Yiyong Ma^1,*

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, Vol.91, No.8, pp. 1709-1719, 2022, DOI:10.32604/phyton.2022.018854 - 14 April 2022

Abstract To develop cold-tolerant maize germplasms and identify the activation of INDUCER OF CRT/DRE-BINDING FACTOR EXPRESSION (ICE1) expression in response to cold stress, RT-PCR was used to amplify the complete open reading frame sequence of the ICE1 gene and construct the plant expression vector pCAMBIA3301-ICE1-Bar. Immature maize embryos and calli were transformed with the recombinant vector using Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformations. From the regenerated plantlets, three T1 lines were screened and identified by PCR. A Southern blot analysis showed that a single copy of the ICE1 gene was integrated into the maize (Zea mays L.) genomes of the three T1 generations.… More >