Zea mays Transcriptome or Gene expression. Zea mays

We use the gowth zone of the maize leaf as a model system to study the growth reduction in response to drought stress. The spatial gradient and the relatively large size of the maize leaf allowed us to sample at a subzonal rezolution and to examine different developmental stages at the same time. We compared the response to different levels of drought stress (mild and severe) of proliferating (meristem), expanding (elongation zone) and differentiated (mature zone) tissue. Overall design: Three separate loop designs were used for the three zones of the maize leaf (meristem, elongation zone, and mature zone). In each loop three treatments were contrasted (control, mild stress, and severe stress). Four biological replicates were used for each zone/condition (4 replicates x 3 zones x 3 conditions = 36 samples).