Transcriptomic changes in maize roots in response to Fe deficiency

Iron deficiency is a yield-limiting factor and a worldwide problem for crop production in many agricultural regions, particularly in aerobic and calcareous soils. Graminaceous species, like maize, improve Fe acquisition through the release of phytosiderophores (PS) into the rhizosphere and the following uptake of Fe(III)-PS complexes through specific transporters. Transcriptional profile obtained by roots 12-d-old maize plants under Fe starvation for 1 week (Fe-deficient; 19-d-old plants) were compared with the transcriptional profile obtained by roots of 12-d-old maize plants grown in a nutrient solution containing 100 μM Fe-EDTA for 1 week (Fe-sufficient; 19-d-old plants). 12-d-old maize plants were treated for 7 days with nutrient solution containing 100 μM Fe-EDTA (Fe-sufficient plants) while roots of an other part of 12-d-old maize plants were exposed for 7 days to nutrient solution without 100 μM Fe-EDTA (Fe-deficient plants). Three different biological replicates were used for each sample repeating the experiment three times. All samples were obtained pooling roots of six plants.