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Stress-related genes define essential steps in the response of maize seedlings to smoke-water

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Abstract

Smoke from burning vegetation is widely recognised as a germination cue for seed germination and recent reports suggest that smoke treatments can improve seedling vigour also. We investigated the effect of smoke-water on seedling vigour and changes of the global transcriptome in the early post-germination phase in maize. Application of smoke-water improved the germination characteristics and seedling vigour. The transcriptional response of embryos and emerging radicles 24 and 48 h after the onset of smoke treatment was investigated. The microarray study revealed a number of smoke-responsive genes amongst which stress- and abscisic acid (ABA)-related genes were over-represented. The global promoter analysis of the smoke-responsive genes revealed a tight correlation with the results obtained from Gene Ontology annotations. This concerted over-expression shows that smoke treatment induces stress and ABA-related responses in the early post-germination phase which leads to better adaptation to environmental stress factors occurring during germination, eventually resulting in greater seedling vigour.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Generation Challenge Program (GCP), the Hungarian–South African Intergovernmental S&T Cooperation Programme, the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA—F16066), the Baross Gábor Projekt and the National Research Foundation, Pretoria, South Africa. Thanks are due to Ferenc Marincs for his kind advices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Genomics, Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (ARI-HAS), Brunszvik u. 2, 2462, Martonvásár, Hungary

    Vilmos Soós, Endre Sebestyén, Angéla Juhász & Ervin Balázs

  2. Department of Maize Breeding, Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Brunszvik u. 2, 2462, Martonvásár, Hungary

    János Pintér

  3. Research Centre for Plant Growth and Development, School of Biological and Conservation Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal Pietermaritzburg, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa

    Marnie E. Light & Johannes Van Staden

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  1. Vilmos Soós
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  2. Endre Sebestyén
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  7. Ervin Balázs
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Correspondence to Ervin Balázs.

Electornic supplementary material

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Supplementary Table S1

List of smoke responsive genes (XLS 518 KB)

Supplementary Table S2

Cis-acting elements found in the predicted promoter sequence of smoke responsive genes (XLS 110 KB)

Supplementary Table S3

Frequency and significance of the GO terms appearing in the smoke responsive genes (XLS 102 KB)

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Soós, V., Sebestyén, E., Juhász, A. et al. Stress-related genes define essential steps in the response of maize seedlings to smoke-water. Funct Integr Genomics 9, 231–242 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-008-0105-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-008-0105-8

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