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Updated: Jan 20, 2026

Imaging and Analysis for Quantifying Maize (Zea mays) Abiotic Stress Phenotypes
Published on: March 28, 2025
Functional Characterization of a Drought-Responsive Invertase Inhibitor from Maize (Zea mays L.)
Lin Chen1, Xiaohong Liu1, Xiaojia Huang1
1College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
Abstract:
Invertases (INVs) play essential roles in plant growth in response to environmental cues. Previous work showed that plant invertases can be post-translationally regulated by small protein inhibitors (INVINHs). Here, this study characterizes a proteinaceous inhibitor of INVs in maize (Zm-INVINH4). A functional analysis of the recombinant Zm-INVINH4 protein revealed that it inhibited both cell wall and vacuolar invertase activities from maize leaves. A Zm-INVINH4::green fluorescent protein fusion experiment indicated that this protein localized in the apoplast. Transcript analysis showed that Zm-INVINH4 is specifically expressed in maize sink tissues, such as the base part of the leaves and young kernels. Moreover, drought stress perturbation significantly induced Zm-INVINH4 expression, which was accompanied with a decrease of cell wall invertase (CWI) activities and an increase of sucrose accumulation in both base parts of the leaves 2 to 7 days after pollinated kernels. In summary, the results support the hypothesis that INV-related sink growth in response to drought treatment is (partially) caused by a silencing of INV activity via drought-induced induction of Zm-INVINH4 protein.
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