| Summary: | Drought stress is seriously affecting the growth and production of crops, especially when agricultural irrigation still remains quantitatively restricted in some arid and semi-arid areas. The identification of drought-tolerant genes is important for improving the adaptability of maize under stress. Here, we found that a new member of the actin-depolymerizing factor (ADF) family; the <i>ZmADF5</i> gene was tightly linked with a consensus drought-tolerant quantitative trait locus, and the significantly associated signals were detected through genome wide association analysis. <i>ZmADF5</i> expression could be induced by osmotic stress and the application of exogenous abscisic acid. Its overexpression in <i>Arabidopsis</i> and maize helped plants to keep a higher survival rate after water-deficit stress, which reduced the stomatal aperture and the water-loss rate, as well as improved clearance of reactive oxygen species. Moreover, seventeen differentially expressed genes were identified as regulated by both drought stress and <i>ZmADF5</i>, four of which were involved in the ABA-dependent drought stress response. <i>ZmADF5</i>-overexpressing plants were also identified as sensitive to ABA during the seed germination and seedling stages. These results suggested that <i>ZmADF5</i> played an important role in the response to drought stress.
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