ZmNF-YB16-YC17-YA1 complex participates in the regulation of plant growth and drought resistance in maize

This was a comparative transcriptome analysis by using high throughput sequencing. To assess the effects of drought stress and NF-Y transcription factors ZmNF-YA1 and ZmNF-YB16 on maize, leaves from wild-type (W22), zmnf-ya1 (m67) mutant, wild-type (B104) and ZmNF-YB16 overexpression (OE) plants grow under well-watered and drought stress conditions were collected and RNAseq was performed. We tracked the gene expression events of inbred maize lines W22 or B104 seedlings in response to drought stress to evaluate how drought stress affects the gene expression program in maize. At the same time, we analyzed the effects of drought stress on gene expression in zmnf-ya1 and ZmNF-YB16 OE plants to investigate whether and how ZmNF-YA1 and ZmNF-YB16 confer drought stress tolerance in maize. Maize plants were grown under well-watered conditions until the V4 stage (zmnf-ya1 and W22) or V9 stage (ZmNF-YB16 OE and B104), and then half of them were exposed to drought stress treatment. Water loss in the soil and the electrolyte leakage from leaf cells were used to assess drought stress in plants. Leaves from 3-4 plants were pooled for each sample, and two replicates were used. RNA was extracted from small strips of leaf lamina excised from the first fully expanded leaf of the plants. Examination of 6 different materials (B104, ZmNF-YB16 OE, DH4866, ZmNF-YA1 OE, W22, zmnf-ya1 mutant ) under normal and drought conditions