Drought is a key threat to maize growth and yield. Understanding the mechanism of immature tassel (IT) response to long term drought is of paramount importance. Here, the maize inbred line PH6WC was tested under well-watered (CK) and two water deficit treatments (WD1 and WD2). The final IT length in the WD1 and WD2 treatments decreased by nearly 6.2% and 21.2% compared to the CK, respectively, and the average accumulation rate IT dry matter was 1.5-fold and 1.8-fold slower, respectively. Furthermore, RNA sequencing analysis was conducted on the IT sampled at 30 days after the WD treatments. In total, the cellular component in gene ontology (GO) analysis suggested that the differentially expressed genes were significantly enriched in three common terms (apoplast, plant-type cell wall, and anchored component of membrane) among the CK vs WD1, CK vs WD2, and WD1 vs WD2 comparisons. Next, a co-expression network analysis identified 44 modules that contained global expression genes. Finally, by combining the GO analysis with modules, nine genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism and the antioxidant system were screened out, and the six corresponding physiological parameters were all significantly increased under the WD treatments. These results showed that, although the IT length and dry matter decreased, the IT enhanced the adaptation to drought by regulating their own genetic and physiological changes.

干旱是玉米生长和单产的主要威胁。了解不成熟的流苏（IT）对长期干旱的反应机制至关重要。在这里，玉米自交系PH6WC在充分灌溉（CK）和两种缺水处理（WD1和WD2）下进行了测试。与CK相比，WD1和WD2处理的最终IT长度分别降低了近6.2％和21.2％，并且IT干物质的平均积累速率分别降低了1.5倍和1.8倍。此外，对WD处理后30天取样的IT进行RNA测序分析。总体而言，基因本体论（GO）分析中的细胞成分表明，在CK与WD1之间，差异表达的基因在三个常用术语（质外体，植物型细胞壁和膜的锚定成分）中显着富集，CK vs WD2，以及WD1 vs WD2比较。接下来，共表达网络分析确定了包含全局表达基因的44个模块。最后，通过将GO分析与模块相结合，筛选出了涉及碳水化合物代谢和抗氧化系统的9个基因，在WD处理下，六个相应的生理参数均显着增加。这些结果表明，尽管IT长度和干物质减少了，但IT通过调节自身的遗传和生理变化增强了对干旱的适应性。在WD处理下，六个相应的生理参数均明显增加。这些结果表明，尽管IT长度和干物质减少了，但IT通过调节自身的遗传和生理变化增强了对干旱的适应性。在WD处理下，六个相应的生理参数均明显增加。这些结果表明，尽管IT长度和干物质减少了，但IT通过调节自身的遗传和生理变化增强了对干旱的适应性。