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Updated: Oct 25, 2025

Imaging and Analysis for Quantifying Maize (Zea mays) Abiotic Stress Phenotypes
Published on: March 28, 2025
Natural variation in a type-A response regulator confers maize chilling tolerance
Rong Zeng1, Zhuoyang Li1, Yiting Shi1
1State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, Center for Crop Functional Genomics and Molecular Breeding, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Maize (Zea mays L.) is a cold-sensitive species that often faces chilling stress, which adversely affects growth and reproduction. However, the genetic basis of low-temperature adaptation in maize remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate that natural variation in the type-A Response Regulator 1 (ZmRR1) gene leads to differences in chilling tolerance among maize inbred lines. Association analysis reveals that InDel-35 of ZmRR1, encoding a protein harboring a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MPK) phosphorylation residue, is strongly associated with chilling tolerance. ZmMPK8, a negative regulator of chilling tolerance, interacts with and phosphorylates ZmRR1 at Ser15. The deletion of a 45-bp region of ZmRR1 harboring Ser15 inhibits its degradation via the 26 S proteasome pathway by preventing its phosphorylation by ZmMPK8. Transcriptome analysis indicates that ZmRR1 positively regulates the expression of ZmDREB1 and Cellulose synthase (CesA) genes to enhance chilling tolerance. Our findings thus provide a potential genetic resource for improving chilling tolerance in maize.
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