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<p>Early reproductive-stage drought stress severely inhibits silk elongation in maize, resulting in delayed silking and thus loss of kernel set. Exogenous trehalose (Tre) has been reported to alleviate drought stress in maize, however, its specific role in alleviating the drought-induced reproductive failure remains unclear. A pot trial was conducted to investigate the effects of foliar application of Tre (0, 20, 30, and 40 mM) and distilled water (as a control) on silk elongation in drought-stressed maize, and associated physiological mechanisms. Among them, foliar application of 30 mM Tre was the most effective concentration, significantly increasing silk length by 44.67% compared to the distilled water spray treatment, whereas 40 mM exerted inhibitory effects. Tre alleviates drought stress primarily by reducing superoxide anion (O<sub>2</sub><sup>−</sup>), hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation by 41.0%, 48.2% and 20.6%, respectively. This was achieved by enhancing the activities of peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) by 71.05%, 99.27%, and 96.5%, respectively, and boosting proline content by 123.6%. Tre also enhanced sugar metabolism by upregulating sucrose synthase (SS-I), vacuolar invertase (VIN), and trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) while suppressing sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), thereby promoting sucrose conversion to glucose and trehalose accumulation. Transcriptomic analysis of silks from the 30 mM Tre treatment revealed that Tre upregulated genes associated with starch/sucrose metabolism (a core pathway for carbon allocation), particularly TPS, and enhanced the expression of genes related to glutathione metabolism (central to antioxidant defense), and alongside the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, a key regulator of stress responses. These findings showed that Tre enhances drought tolerance in maize by boosting silk elongation through augmented antioxidant capacity, osmotic adjustment, and sugar metabolism, offering a potential strategy to mitigate yield losses under reproductive drought stress.</p>

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Alleviating Drought-Induced Inhibition of Silk Elongation through Exogenous Trehalose in Maize

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月2日

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  • Jinrong Xu,
  • Yi Yu,
  • Wangjing Li,
  • Wenguang Li,
  • Dejian Yu,
  • Liyuan Chen,
  • Youhong Song

摘要

Early reproductive-stage drought stress severely inhibits silk elongation in maize, resulting in delayed silking and thus loss of kernel set. Exogenous trehalose (Tre) has been reported to alleviate drought stress in maize, however, its specific role in alleviating the drought-induced reproductive failure remains unclear. A pot trial was conducted to investigate the effects of foliar application of Tre (0, 20, 30, and 40 mM) and distilled water (as a control) on silk elongation in drought-stressed maize, and associated physiological mechanisms. Among them, foliar application of 30 mM Tre was the most effective concentration, significantly increasing silk length by 44.67% compared to the distilled water spray treatment, whereas 40 mM exerted inhibitory effects. Tre alleviates drought stress primarily by reducing superoxide anion (O2−), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation by 41.0%, 48.2% and 20.6%, respectively. This was achieved by enhancing the activities of peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and catalase (CAT) by 71.05%, 99.27%, and 96.5%, respectively, and boosting proline content by 123.6%. Tre also enhanced sugar metabolism by upregulating sucrose synthase (SS-I), vacuolar invertase (VIN), and trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) while suppressing sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS), thereby promoting sucrose conversion to glucose and trehalose accumulation. Transcriptomic analysis of silks from the 30 mM Tre treatment revealed that Tre upregulated genes associated with starch/sucrose metabolism (a core pathway for carbon allocation), particularly TPS, and enhanced the expression of genes related to glutathione metabolism (central to antioxidant defense), and alongside the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, a key regulator of stress responses. These findings showed that Tre enhances drought tolerance in maize by boosting silk elongation through augmented antioxidant capacity, osmotic adjustment, and sugar metabolism, offering a potential strategy to mitigate yield losses under reproductive drought stress.