Transcriptional survey of abiotic stress response in maize (Zea mays L.) in the level of gene co-expression network and differential gene correlation analysis

Maize may be exposed to several abiotic stresses in the field. Therefore, identifying the tolerance mechanisms of naturally field stress is mandatory. Gene expression data of maize upon abiotic stress were collected, and 560 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified through meta-analysis. The most significant gene ontology terms in up-regulated genes were “response to abiotic stress” and “chitinase activity”. “Phosphorelay signal transduction system” was the most significant enriched biological process in down-regulated DEGs. The co-expression analysis unveiled seven modules of DEGs, with a notable positive correlation between the modules and abiotic stress. Furthermore, the statistical significance was strikingly high for the turquoise, green, and yellow modules. The turquoise group played a central role in orchestrating crucial adaptations in metabolic and stress response pathways in maize when exposed to abiotic stress. Within three up-regulated modules, Zm.7361.1.A1_at, Zm.10386.1.A1_a_at, and Zm.10151.1.A1_at emerged as hub genes. These genes might introduce novel candidates implicated in stress tolerance mechanisms, warranting further comprehensive investigation and research. In parallel, the R package glmnet was applied to fit a logistic LASSO regression model on the DEGs profile to select candidate genes associated with abiotic responses in maize. The identified hub genes and LASSO regression genes were validated on an independent microarray dataset. Additionally, Differential Gene Correlation Analysis (DGCA) was performed on LASSO and hub genes to investigate the gene-gene regulatory relationship. The p-value of DGCA of 16 pairwise gene comparisons was lower than 0.01, indicating a gene-gene significant change in correlation between control and abiotic stress. Integrated WGCNA and logistic LASSO analysis revealed Zm.11185.1.S1_at, Zm.2331.1.S1_x_at, and Zm.17003.1.S1_at. Notably, these three genes were identified in the 16 gene-pair comparisons. This finding highlights the notable significance of these genes in the abiotic stress response. Additional research into maize stress tolerance may focus on these three genes.