Understanding how maize () responds to cold stress is crucial for facilitating breeding programs of cold-tolerant varieties. Despite extensive utilization of the genome-wide association study (GWAS) approach for exploring favorable natural alleles associated with maize cold tolerance, few studies have successfully identified candidate genes that contribute to maize cold tolerance. In this study, we used a diverse panel of inbred maize lines collected from different germplasm sources to perform a GWAS on variations in the relative injured area of maize true leaves during cold stress—a trait very closely correlated with maize cold tolerance. We identified , which encodes a B-class heat shock transcription factor (HSF) that positively regulates cold tolerance at both the seedling and germination stages. Natural variations in the promoter of the cold-tolerant allele led to increased expression under cold stress by inhibiting binding of the basic leucine zipper bZIP68 transcription factor, a negative regulator of cold tolerance. By integrating transcriptome deep sequencing, DNA affinity purification sequencing, and targeted lipidomic analysis, we revealed the function of in regulating lipid metabolism homeostasis to modulate cold tolerance in maize. In addition, we found that confers maize cold tolerance without incurring yield penalties. Collectively, this study establishes as a key regulator that enhances cold tolerance in maize, providing valuable genetic resources for breeding of cold-tolerant maize varieties.

中文翻译：

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热休克转录因子的遗传变异调节玉米的耐寒性


了解玉米 （） 如何应对寒冷胁迫对于促进耐寒品种的育种计划至关重要。尽管广泛使用全基因组关联研究 （GWAS） 方法来探索与玉米耐寒相关的有利自然等位基因，但很少有研究成功鉴定出有助于玉米耐寒的候选基因。在这项研究中，我们使用了从不同种质来源收集的多样化自交玉米品系面板，对寒冷胁迫期间玉米真叶相对受伤区域的变化进行了 GWAS——这一性状与玉米耐寒性密切相关。我们确定了 ，它编码一种 B 级热休克转录因子 （HSF），它在幼苗和发芽阶段都积极调节耐寒性。耐寒等位基因启动子的自然变化通过抑制碱性亮氨酸拉链 bZIP68 转录因子（耐寒的负调节因子）的结合，导致在低温胁迫下的表达增加。通过整合转录组深度测序、DNA 亲和纯化测序和靶向脂质组学分析，我们揭示了在调节脂质代谢稳态中调节玉米耐寒性的功能。此外，我们发现赋予玉米耐寒性而不会产生产量损失。总的来说，这项研究是提高玉米耐寒性的关键调节因子，为耐寒玉米品种的育种提供了宝贵的遗传资源。