Maize cryptochromes 1a1 and 1a2 promote seedling photomorphogenesis and shade resistance in Zea mays and Arabidopsis
Xiaocong Fan,
Shizhan Chen,
Wenjing Wu,
Meifang Song,
Guanghua Sun,
Shuaitao Yao,
Weimin Zhan,
Lei Yan,
Hongdan Li,
Yanpei Zhang,
Lijian Wang,
Kang Zhang,
Liangliang Jiang,
Jianping Yang,
Qinghua Yang
Affiliations
Xiaocong Fan
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Shizhan Chen
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Wenjing Wu
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Meifang Song
Institute of Radiation Technology, Beijing Academy of Science and Technology, Beijing 100875, China
Guanghua Sun
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Shuaitao Yao
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Weimin Zhan
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Lei Yan
Institute of Crops, Jiangxi Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanchang 330200, Jiangxi, China
Hongdan Li
Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
Yanpei Zhang
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Lijian Wang
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China
Kang Zhang
Genovo Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Tianjin 301700, China
Liangliang Jiang
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China; Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang 453003, Henan, China; Corresponding authors.
Jianping Yang
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China; Corresponding authors.
Qinghua Yang
College of Agronomy, State Key Laboratory of Wheat and Maize Crop Science, and Center for Crop Genome Engineering, Longzi Lake Campus, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan, China; Corresponding authors.
Maize growth and development are regulated by light quality, intensity and photoperiod. Cryptochromes are blue/ultraviolet-A light receptors involved in stem elongation, shade avoidance, and photoperiodic flowering. To investigate the function of cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) in maize, where it is encoded by ZmCRY1, we obtained two ZmCRY1a genes (ZmCRY1a1 and ZmCRY1a2), both of which share the highest similarity with other gramineous plants, in particular rice CRY1a by phylogenetic analysis. In Arabidopsis, overexpression of ZmCRY1a genes promoted seedling de-etiolation under blue and white light, resulting in dwarfing of mature plants. In seedlings of the maize inbred line Zong 31 (ZmCRY1a-OE), overexpression of ZmCRY1a genes caused a reduction in the mesocotyl and first leaf sheath lengths due to down-regulation of genes influencing cell elongation. In mature transgenic maize plants, plant height, ear height, and internode length decreased in response to overexpression of ZmCRY1a genes. Expression of ZmCRY1a were insensitive to low blue light (LBL)-induced shade avoidance syndrome (SAS) in Arabidopsis and maize. This prompted us to investigate the regulatory role of the gibberellin and auxin metabolic pathways in the response of ZmCRY1a genes to LBL treatment. We confirmed a link between ZmCRY1a expression and hormonal influence on the growth and development of maize under LBL-induced SAS. These results reveal that ZmCRY1a has a relatively conservative function in regulating maize photomorphogenesis and may guide new strategies for breeding high density-tolerant maize cultivars.
