Maize is a vital staple crop significantly affected by climate change, necessitating urgent efforts to enhance its resilience. This review analyzes advanced methodologies for maize improvement, focusing on the identification of genetic determinants through QTL mapping, candidate gene mining, and GWAS. We highlight the transformative potential of CRISPR gene editing for identifying key regulators in maize development and the utility of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) for functional genomics. Additionally, we discuss breeding strategies leveraging the genetic diversity of maize wild relatives and innovations such as speed breeding and genomic selection (GS), which accelerate breeding cycles. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) plays a critical role in developing superior maize varieties. The review also encompasses agronomic practices and technological innovations, including GS, aimed at climate mitigation. High-throughput phenotyping and omics-based approaches, including transcriptomics and metabolomics, are essential tools for developing climate-resilient maize. Climate changes have a significant impact on maize production and pose unprecedented challenges to its cultivation.

Background/Objectives: Abiotic stresses impose significant constraints on crop growth, development, and yield. However, the comprehensive characterization of the maize (Zea mays) lipoxygenase (LOX) gene family under stress conditions remains limited. LOXs play vital roles in plant stress responses by mediating lipid oxidation and signaling pathways. Methods: In this study, 13 ZmLOX genes were identified in maize and characterized to explore their functions under abiotic stresses. Results: Phylogenetics revealed that ZmLOX genes share evolutionary origins with LOX genes in Arabidopsis and rice. Promoter analysis identified cis-acting elements associated with growth, light response, hormone signaling, and stress response, indicating their diverse biological roles. Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that ZmLOX genes are involved in jasmonic acid metabolism, lipid signaling, and photosynthetic processes, while protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis positioned ZmLOX proteins as central hubs in stress-related regulatory networks. Differential expression and qRT-PCR analyses revealed stress-specific (including heat, drought, salt, and cold) expression patterns, with ZmLOX2 and ZmLOX13 showing key roles in drought and cold tolerance, respectively. Conclusions: These findings provide new insights into the regulatory functions of ZmLOX genes, offering potential targets for enhancing maize resilience to abiotic stresses and improving agricultural productivity.

Maize vivipary, precocious seed germination on the ear, affects yield and seed quality. The application of multi-omics approaches, such as transcriptomics or metabolomics, to classic vivipary mutants can potentially reveal the underlying mechanism. Seven maize vivipary mutants were selected for transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. A suite of transporters and transcription factors were found to be upregulated in all mutants, indicating that their functions are required during seed germination. Moreover, vivipary mutants exhibited a uniform expression pattern of genes related to abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis, gibberellin (GA) biosynthesis, and ABA core signaling. NCED4 (Zm00001d007876), which is involved in ABA biosynthesis, was markedly downregulated and GA3ox (Zm00001d039634) was upregulated in all vivipary mutants, indicating antagonism between these two phytohormones. The ABA core signaling components (PYL-ABI1-SnRK2-ABI3) were affected in most of the mutants, but the expression of these genes was not significantly different between the vp8 mutant and wild-type seeds. Metabolomics analysis integrated with co-expression network analysis identified unique metabolites, their corresponding pathways, and the gene networks affected by each individual mutation. Collectively, our multi-omics analyses characterized the transcriptional and metabolic landscape during vivipary, providing a valuable resource for improving seed quality.

Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferases (GPATs) catalyze the initial and rate-limiting step of glycerolipid biosynthesis, yet their contribution to salt tolerance in the soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) plants remains largely uncharacterized. In this study, a total of 27 GmGPAT genes were identified, and their evolutionary relationships, chromosomal distribution, conserved motifs, and cis-regulatory elements were comprehensively analyzed. Through transcriptomic and qPCR analyses, many GmGPATs were found to be predominantly expressed in roots, with GmGPAT1, a plastid-targeted isoform, displaying the most rapid and pronounced transcriptional activation under salt stress. GFP-fusion experiments in transient expression assays confirmed plastid localization of GmGPAT1. Heterologous expression in Escherichia coli together with enzyme kinetics analyses validated its enzymatic function as a GPAT family member. The soybean hairy-root lines overexpressing GmGPAT1 exhibited enhanced root elongation, increased biomass, and improved photosynthetic efficiency under 120 mM NaCl stress, while CRISPR/Cas9 knockout mutants showed pronounced growth inhibition. Physiological assays demonstrated that GmGPAT1 overexpression mitigated oxidative damage by limiting reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation and lipid peroxidation, increasing antioxidant enzyme activities (CAT, SOD, POD), and elevating the ratios of AsA/DHA and GSH/GSSG. These changes contributed to redox homeostasis and improved Na⁺ extrusion capacity. A genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 288 soybean accessions identified a single nucleotide polymorphism in the GmGPAT1 promoter that was significantly correlated with salt tolerance, and the beneficial Hap1 allele emerged as a promising molecular marker for breeding. Together, these analyses emphasize the status of GmGPAT1 as a major regulator of salt stress adaptation through the coordinated modulation of lipid metabolism and redox balance, extend the functional annotation of the soybean GPAT family, and highlight new genetic resources that can be leveraged to enhance tolerance to salt stress in soybean cultivars.

Drought stress significantly disrupts plant water balance and cell wall integrity, thereby inhibiting growth and development. The Glycosyltransferase 14 (GT14) family plays a pivotal role in cell wall biosynthesis and environmental stress responses; however, the mechanisms underlying its involvement in the drought response of maize (Zea mays L.) remain elusive. In this study, we identified 42 ZmGT14 members distributed across 10 chromosomes by genome-wide analysis. Phylogenetic relationships, gene structures, and conserved motif analyses indicated high intra-subfamily conservation. Promoter analysis revealed that ZmGT14 genes are enriched with various stress-responsive elements, including ABRE, DRE, and MBS. Transcriptomic profiling and RT-qPCR verification demonstrated that the expression of ZmGT14-36 increased by approximately 30-fold within 36 h of drought treatment. Further screening and point-to-point Yeast Two-Hybrid (Y2H) assays identified that ZmGT14-36 physically interacts with UGT85A2, a protein associated with redox homeostasis. These findings provide preliminary evidence that ZmGT14-36 may participate in the drought resistance response in maize. Collectively, our study elucidates the molecular evolutionary characteristics of the ZmGT14 family and provides a key candidate gene for the molecular breeding of drought-tolerant maize varieties.