Roles of heat shock protein and reprogramming of photosynthetic carbon metabolism in thermotolerance under elevated CO2 in maize

•Interpret the transcriptomes and metabolisms in response to combined SHS and elevated CO2.•Suggest a potential mechanistic model for the metabolic network reprogramming following combined effect of SHS and elevated CO2.•Underlie the beneficial effects of elevated CO2 in the thermotolerance process through amplifying small HSPs in maize.•Corroborate the involvement of two HSPs genes in photosynthetic carbon metabolism to avoid misfolding in Rubisco.