New insights into the response of maize to fluctuations in the light environment

Light is the most important environmental cue signaling the transition from skotomorphogenesis to photomorphogenesis, thus affecting plant development and metabolic activity. How the light response mechanisms of maize seedlings respond to fluctuations in the light environment has not been well characterized to date. In this study, we built a gene coexpression network from a dynamic transcriptomic map of maize seedlings exposed to different light environments. Coexpression analysis identified ten modules and multiple genes that closely correlate with photosynthesis and characterized hub genes associated with regulatory networks, duplication events, domestication and improvement. In addition, we identified that 38% of hub genes underwent duplication events, 74% of which are related to photosynthesis. Moreover, we captured the dynamic expression atlas of gene sets involved in the chloroplast photosynthetic apparatus and photosynthetic carbon assimilation in different light environments, which should help to elucidate the key mechanisms and regulatory networks that underlie photosynthesis in maize. Insights from this study provide a valuable resource to better understand the genetic mechanisms of the response to fluctuations in the light environment in maize.