BackgroundArgonaute (AGO) protein is a kind of RNA binding protein that plays an integral role in the gene-silencing pathways guided by small RNAs. But there are few studies about the regulation of AGO genes responded to diverse abiotic stress in maize.ResultsIn this study, we analyzed the expression of seventeen ZmAGO genes under heat, cold, salinity, drought and ABA treatments using quantitative PCR (qPCR). All ZmAGOs showed differential expression modes under various abiotic stress treatments. Two ZmAGOs (ZmAGO1a and ZmAGO5d) and other fifteen ZmAGOs exhibited specific up-regulation in response to heat separately. Several ZmAGO genes are very sensitive to cold stress, but many ZmAGO genes are slow to respond to NaCl treatment. Nine ZmAGO genes (ZmAGO1f, ZmAGO2b, ZmAGO4, ZmAGO5a/b/c, ZmAGO7, ZmAGO9 and ZmAGO18a/b) presented definite up-regulation in response to drought, which were similar to the pattern of gene regulation under abscisic acid (ABA) treatment.ConclusionsVarious ZmAGO genes respond to different abiotic stress treatments. These results provide fundamental information and insights for the further study on the role of abiotic stress resistance genes in maize and provide basis for further study on the function of AGO genes in response to abiotic stress in maize.

中文翻译：

---

玉米（Zea mays L.）中Argonaute基因响应非生物胁迫的表达分析

背景Argonaute（AGO）蛋白是一种RNA结合蛋白，在小RNA引导的基因沉默通路中发挥着不可或缺的作用。但关于玉米AGO基因调控对多种非生物胁迫响应的研究较少。结果本研究采用定量PCR(qPCR)方法分析了17个ZmAGO基因在热、冷、盐度、干旱和ABA处理下的表达情况。所有 ZmAGO 在各种非生物胁迫处理下均表现出差异表达模式。两个 ZmAGO（ZmAGO1a 和 ZmAGO5d）和其他 15 个 ZmAGO 分别表现出对热量的特定上调。几个 ZmAGO 基因对冷应激非常敏感，但许多 ZmAGO 基因对 NaCl 处理反应缓慢。九个 ZmAGO 基因（ZmAGO1f、ZmAGO2b、ZmAGO4、ZmAGO5a/b/c、ZmAGO7、ZmAGO9和ZmAGO18a/b)在干旱胁迫下表现出明显的上调，​​这与脱落酸(ABA)处理下的基因调控模式相似。结论不同的ZmAGO基因响应不同的非生物胁迫处理。这些结果为进一步研究玉米非生物胁迫抗性基因的作用提供了基础信息和启示，也为进一步研究玉米AGO基因响应非生物胁迫的功能提供了依据。