Application of multi-omics approaches in deciphering drought resilience in maize: A review

Drought stress caused by abnormal climate is the main abiotic stress factor restricting maize planting and production, and its impact will expand with the intensification of climate change and threaten global food security. Since its rise, multi-omics technology has been widely applied to decipher the formation mechanism of maize drought resilience, laying a solid theoretical foundation for solving the problem of “how maize adapts to drought”. However, there is still a lack of summaries of the relevant research progress at present. Therefore, in this review, we summarize the progress of multi-omics research involving the mechanisms of maize drought resilience, especially the application of emerging technologies such as single-cell and spatial omics, as well as the discovery of new regulatory mechanisms. We also look forward to the feasibility of applying a series of cutting-edge technologies to multi-omics research. The effective integration of multi-omics with these cutting-edge technologies will greatly enhance the efficiency of analyzing the drought resilience mechanisms of maize and precisely breeding maize varieties with excellent drought resilience.