Identification and Functional Analysis of Drought-Responsive Long Noncoding RNAs in Maize Roots

Area of Science:

• Plant Biology
• Molecular Biology
• Genetics

Background:

• Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are crucial in plant stress responses.
• Maize inbred lines with varying drought tolerance were used to study lncRNAs.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify drought-responsive lncRNAs in maize roots.
• Characterize sequence features and expression patterns of drought-responsive lncRNAs.
• Investigate the regulatory mechanisms and molecular functions of lncRNAs under drought stress.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of lncRNAs in drought-tolerant and sensitive maize lines and their RILs.
• Integration of multiomics data including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and RNA m6A.
• Construction of lncRNA-mRNA co-expression networks.

Main Results:

• Drought-responsive lncRNAs exhibit distinct sequence characteristics compared to non-responsive ones.
• A higher ratio of lncRNAs were down-regulated by drought compared to coding genes.
• lncRNAs showed lower enrichment of activating histone modifications and were enriched at recombination sites.
• A lncRNA-mRNA network identified modules associated with drought survival, including nine SNPs in lncRNAs.

Conclusions:

• lncRNAs play significant roles in maize root response to drought stress.
• Multiomics data revealed distinct regulatory patterns for lncRNAs compared to coding genes.
• lncRNAs are integral components of complex regulatory networks governing plant drought tolerance.