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Dynamic and cell-type specific transcriptional reprogramming underlies the floral transition in the maize shoot apical meristem

ABSTRACT: The floral transition in maize represents a pivotal developmental switch that determines flowering time, environmental adaptation, and yield-related traits. However, the molecular mechanisms governing shoot apical meristem reprogramming and cell identity changes during this process remain poorly understood. By integrating time-course bulk RNA-seq, single-cell transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility, and transcription factor binding profiles, we construct a spatiotemporal molecular framework of the maize shoot apical meristem floral transition. Our analyses reveal global transcriptional reprogramming accompanied by pronounced cell type-specific regulation dynamics. At a global level, our transcriptional-level inference suggests that pathways associated with chromatin remodeling, environmental response, and reproductive development are sequentially activated, based mainly on transcriptional-level inference. We further identify a ZmMADS69-ZmRap2.7-ZMM4 regulatory module that fine-tunes the floral transition within the shoot apical meristem. At single-cell resolution, we find that the floral transition is not driven by a uniform transcriptional switch, but instead emerges from the coordinated action of spatially distinct shoot apical meristem domains. Through differential expression, trajectory, and co-expression module analyses, we further identify previously unrecognized roles for the inflorescence regulators UNBRANCHED2 and UNBRANCHED3 in promoting the floral transition, suggesting that they coordinate floral induction with subsequent inflorescence development. Our study establishes a comprehensive spatiotemporal regulatory framework for maize floral transition, providing mechanistic insights into shoot apical meristem reprogramming and offering a foundation for identifying new regulators to improve maize adaptation and yield.

ORGANISM(S): Zea mays

PROVIDER: GSE309101 | GEO | 2026/02/25

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The transition to flowering is characterized by a shift of the shoot apical meristem (SAM) from leaf production to the initiation of a floral meristem. In this study, we addressed the nature of SAM gene networks involved in the early floral initiation process in the crop legume soybean. Unique aspects (such as pod development and nitrogen fixation) of legume development make them appealing for plant development studies. Soybean, a major oilseed crop, possesses varied maturity groups; hence, understanding and unravelling initial transition control has implications in manipulating crop yield. To this end, we performed global gene expression analysis using Affymetrix® soybean GeneChip® with RNA isolated from micro-dissected soybean SAMs at various time points after plants were shifted from long-day to short-day growth conditions. Analysis of the resulting microarray data revealed a total of 331 transcripts that have differential expression profiles. Intriguingly, about 20% of the transcripts affected by the switch in the development program have orthologs reported to be responsive to abscisic acid (ABA), suggesting an increase in ABA levels in the SAM during this developmental change. A subsequent immunoassay verified this, thereby implicating its possible function as an endogenous signal during the floral evocation process. The striking occurrence of abiotic stress-related transcripts, including trehalose metabolism genes, in SAMs during the early transition to floral meristems points to an overlap of abiotic stress and floral signalling pathways in soybean. In addition, other hormones - auxin, jasmonic acid and brassinosteroids - and a number of candidate protein kinases may also act in the signalling process prior to or concurrently with the induction of the putative floral homeiotic transcripts. This indicates that molecular events mediated by multiple hormonal pathways are part of the mechanism employed by soybean to regulate the floral transition process. Keywords: transcript profiling floral transition soybean shoot apical meristem

Project description:Plants initially undergo a period of vegetative development, in which it produces leaves from shoot apical meristem (SAM) and roots from the root apical meristem. Later in development, the SAM undergoes a change in fate and enters reproductive development called as floral transition, producing flowers and seeds. Our understanding of the molecular and genetic mechanisms that underlie reproductive development in plants has increased tremendously in the past decade, essentially through the work on Arabidopsis. In this study, we have analyzed the spatial and temporal gene expression in various tissues/organs and developmental stages of rice using microarray technology to identify the genes differentially expressed during various stages of reproductive development. Experiment Overall Design: Various rice tissues/organs (seedling root, mature leaf and Y leaf) and stages of reproductive (panicle and seed) development were used for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. Three biological replicates of each sample were used for microarray analysis. We sought to obtain developmental and temporal gene expression profiles at each stage to identify the differentially expressed genes. Different stages of panicle and seed development have been categorized according to panicle length and days after pollination, respectively, based on landmark developmental events as follows: up to 0.5 mm, shoot apical meristem and rachis meristem (SAM); 0-3 cm, floral transition and floral organ development (P1); 3-10 cm, meiotic stage (P2 and P3); 10-15 cm, young microspore stage (P4); 15-22 cm, vacuolated pollen stage (P5); 22-30 cm, mature pollen stage (P6); 0-2 dap, early globular embryo (S1); 3-4 dap, middle and late globular embryo (S2); 5-10 dap, embryo morphogenesis (S3); 11-20 dap, embryo maturation (S4); 21-29, dormancy and desiccation tolerance (S5). These stage specifications are approximations based on information from Itoh et al., 2005, Plant Cell Physiol, 46, 23-47.

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Dynamic and cell-type specific transcriptional reprogramming underlies the floral transition in the maize shoot apical meristem

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