Genome-wide identification of genes involved in stomatal closure in response to drought stress using two maize inbred lines

Drought stress severely threatens growth and production in maize around the word. Identification of genes contributing to drought tolerance improvement is an effective way to cope with this problem. However, the genes involved in drought stress in maize remains scare. Here, we identified two maize inbred lines, CML493 and XUN971, with significantly different phenotype on water loss in the dissected leaves. Under drought condition, the survival rate of CML493 is higher than that of XUN971, suggesting that CML493 was more resistant to drought than XUN971. The CML493 displayed more rapid stomatal closure than XUN971 in response to drought stress, implying the drought tolerance of CML493 depends on rapid stomatal closure. We used RNA-sequence technology identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in stomatal closure. These findings provide new information on controlling stomatal closure in response to drought stress in maize, and will aid for breeding new drought resistant maize cultivars.