**Magda Pál, Tibor Janda, Imre Majláth and Gabriella Szalai \***

Agricultural Institute, Centre for Agricultural Research, 2462 Martonvásár, Brunszvik 2, Hungary; pal.magda@agrar.mta.hu (M.P.); janda.tibor@agrar.mta.hu (T.J.); majlath.imre@agrar.mta.hu (I.M.) **\*** Correspondence: szalai.gabriella@agrar.mta.hu

Received: 13 February 2020; Accepted: 10 March 2020; Published: 12 March 2020

**Abstract:** The exposure of plants to non-lethal low temperatures may increase their tolerance to a subsequent severe chilling stress. To some extent, this is also true for cold-sensitive species, including maize. In the present work, based on our previous microarray experiment, the differentially expressed genes with phenylpropanoid pathways in the focus were further investigated in relation to changes in certain phenolic compounds and other plant growth regulators. Phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) was mainly activated under limited light conditions. However, light-induced anthocyanin accumulation occurred both in the leaves and roots. Chilling stress induced the accumulation of salicylic acid (SA), but this accumulation was moderated in the cold-acclimated plants. Acclimation also reduced the accumulation of jasmonic acid (JA) in the leaves, which was rather induced in the roots. The level of abscisic acid (ABA) is mainly related to the level of the stress, and less indicated the level of the acclimation. The highest glutathione (GSH) amount was observed during the recovery period in the leaves of plants that were cold acclimated at growth light, while their precursors started to accumulate GSH even during the chilling. In conclusion, different light conditions during the cold acclimation period differentially affected certain stress-related mechanisms in young maize plants and changes were also light-dependent in the root, not only in the leaves.

**Keywords:** acclimation; antioxidants; chilling; phenylpropanoid pathway; salicylic acid; *Zea mays*
