Persistent ER stress in maize seedlings engages ZmIRE1 in a multiphasic process that transitions from prosurvival activities to cell death [RNA-Seq]

We tracked the gene expression events following treatment of maize seedlings with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress agent tunicamycin. ER stress elicits the unfolded protein response (UPR) and when plants are faced with persistent stress, the UPR transitions from an adaptive or cell survival phase to programmed cell death. Each sample was collected in 3 biological replicates and two technical replicates.