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The lengths of the basal internodes is an important factor for lodging resistance of maize (Zea mays). In this study, foliar application of coronatine (COR) to 10 cultivars at the V8 growth stage had different suppression effects on the length of the eighth internode, with three being categorized as strong-inhibition cultivars (SC), five as moderate (MC), and two as weak (WC). RNA-sequencing of the eighth internode of the cultivars revealed a total of 7895 internode elongation-regulating genes, including 777 transcription factors (TFs). Genes related to the hormones cytokinin, gibberellin, auxin, and ethylene in the SC group were significantly down-regulated compared to WC, and more cell-cycle regulatory factors and cell wall-related genes showed significant changes, which severely inhibited internode elongation. In addition, we used EMSAs to explore the direct regulatory relationship between two important TFs, ZmABI7 and ZmMYB117, which regulate the cell cycle and cell wall modification by directly binding to the promoters of their target genes ZmCYC1 , ZmCYC3 , ZmCYC7 , and ZmCPP1. The transcriptome reported in this study will provide a useful resource for studying maize internode development, with potential use for targeted genetic control of internode length to improve the lodging resistance of maize. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water uptake is crucial for crop growth and development and drought stress tolerance. The water channel aquaporins (AQP) play important roles in plant water uptake. Here, we discovered that a jasmonic acid analog, coronatine (COR), enhanced maize (Zea mays) root water uptake capacity under artificial water deficiency conditions. COR treatment induced the expression of the AQP gene Plasma membrane intrinsic protein 2;5 (ZmPIP2;5). In vivo and in vitro experiments indicated that COR also directly acts on ZmPIP2;5 to improve water uptake in maize and Xenopus oocytes. The leaf water potential and hydraulic conductivity of roots growing under hyperosmotic conditions were higher in ZmPIP2;5‐overexpression lines and lower in the zmpip2;5 knockout mutant, compared to wild‐type plants. Based on a comparison between ZmPIP2;5 and other PIP2s, we predicted that COR may bind to the functional site in loop E of ZmPIP2;5. We confirmed this prediction by surface plasmon resonance technology and a microscale thermophoresis assay, and showed that deleting the binding motif greatly reduced COR binding. We identified the N241 residue as the COR‐specific binding site, which may activate the channel of the AQP tetramer and increase water transport activity, which may facilitate water uptake under hyperosmotic stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]