Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Imaging and Analysis for Quantifying Maize (Zea mays) Abiotic Stress Phenotypes
Published on: March 28, 2025
Expression analysis of Argonaute genes in maize (Zea mays L.) in response to abiotic stress
Lihong Zhai1, Feng Teng1, Kangpeng Zheng1
11Medical College, Hubei University of Arts and Science, Xiangyang, 441053 People's Republic of China.
Background:
Argonaute (AGO) protein is a kind of RNA binding protein that plays an integral role in the gene-silencing pathways guided by small RNAs. But there are few studies about the regulation of AGO genes responded to diverse abiotic stress in maize.
Results:
In this study, we analyzed the expression of seventeen ZmAGO genes under heat, cold, salinity, drought and ABA treatments using quantitative PCR (qPCR). All ZmAGOs showed differential expression modes under various abiotic stress treatments. Two ZmAGOs (ZmAGO1a and ZmAGO5d) and other fifteen ZmAGOs exhibited specific up-regulation in response to heat separately. Several ZmAGO genes are very sensitive to cold stress, but many ZmAGO genes are slow to respond to NaCl treatment. Nine ZmAGO genes (ZmAGO1f, ZmAGO2b, ZmAGO4, ZmAGO5a/b/c, ZmAGO7, ZmAGO9 and ZmAGO18a/b) presented definite up-regulation in response to drought, which were similar to the pattern of gene regulation under abscisic acid (ABA) treatment.
Conclusions:
Various ZmAGO genes respond to different abiotic stress treatments. These results provide fundamental information and insights for the further study on the role of abiotic stress resistance genes in maize and provide basis for further study on the function of AGO genes in response to abiotic stress in maize.
More Related Videos
06:04Author Spotlight: Innovative Approaches to Understanding Plant Structure-Function Relationships for Climate-Resilient Crops
Published on: July 12, 2024
05:55High-throughput, Microscale Protocol for the Analysis of Processing Parameters and Nutritional Qualities in Maize Zea mays L.
Published on: June 16, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Responses to Salt Stress
What is Gene Expression?
Gene expression is the process in which DNA directs the synthesis of functional products, that is, proteins. Cells can regulate gene expression at various stages. It allows organisms to generate different cell types and enables cells to adapt to internal and external factors.
Genetic Information Flows from DNA to RNA to Protein
A gene is a stretch of DNA that serves as the blueprint for functional RNAs and proteins. Since DNA is made up of nucleotides and proteins consist of amino...
Responses to Heat and Cold Stress
Cell Specific Gene Expression
Stress Response System
Alarm stage
In the alarm stage, the body's...
Chromatin Position Affects Gene Expression
Topologically Associated Domains (TADs)
The 3-dimensional positioning of chromatin in the nucleus influences the...