ZmSRL5is involved in drought tolerance by maintaining cuticular wax structure in maize

Cuticular wax is a natural barrier on terrestrial plant organs, which protects plants from damages caused by a variety of stresses. Here, we report the identification and functional characterization of a cuticular‐wax‐related gene, Zea mays L. SEMI‐ROLLED LEAF 5 ( ZmSRL5 ). The loss‐of‐function mutant srl5 , which was created by a 3,745 bp insertion in the first intron that led to the premature transcript, exhibited abnormal wax crystal...