The Role of Salicylic Acid Signal in Plant Growth,Development and Abiotic Stress

In nature, plants are constantly affected by adverse conditions. Unlike animals, plants can resist these adverse stresses only by insisting on their original positions. Stress can be divided into biological stress and abiotic stress, abiotic stress directly affects the growth, development and yield of plants, it spans all developmental stages from seed germination to senescence. In order to adapt to changing environment, plants have evolved well-developed mechanisms that help to perceive the stress signals and enable optimal growth response. Salicylic acid (SA) is an important endogenous signal molecule in plants, which not only regulate some plant growth and development processes, but also plays an important part in plant stress resistance. Much work about salicylic acid has been done on the immunity of plants to pathogens, and the synthesis and signal transduction of SA are clearly understood, its function in plant growth, development and abiotic stress is also well learned, we systemically summarized the multiple function of SA signal in non-pathogen-related response, such review should help us understand the common but essential function of SA signal in modulating plant growth, development and abiotic stress.     

The calcium sensor calcineurin B-like 9 modulates abscisic acid sensitivity and biosynthesis in Arabidopsis

Calcium plays a pivotal role in plant responses to several stimuli, including pathogens, abiotic stresses, and hormones. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying calcium functions are poorly understood. It is hypothesized that calcium serves as second messenger and, in many cases, requires intracellular protein sensors to transduce the signal further downstream in the pathways. The calcineurin B-like proteins (CBLs) represent a unique family of calcium sensors in plant cells. Here, we report our analysis of the CBL9 member of this gene family. Expression of CBL9 was inducible by multiple stress signals and abscisic acid (ABA) in young seedlings. When CBL9 gene function was disrupted in Arabidopsis thaliana plants, the responses to ABA were drastically altered. The mutant plants became hypersensitive to ABA in the early developmental stages, including seed germination and post-germination seedling growth. In addition, seed germination in the mutant also showed increased sensitivity to inhibition by osmotic stress conditions produced by high concentrations of salt and mannitol. Further analyses indicated that increased stress sensitivity in the mutant may be a result of both ABA hypersensitivity and increased accumulation of ABA under the stress conditions. The cbl9 mutant plants showed enhanced expression of genes involved in ABA signaling, such as ABA-INSENSITIVE 4 and 5. This study has identified a calcium sensor as a common element in the ABA signaling and stress-induced ABA biosynthesis pathways.     

Isolation and characterization of novel mutants affecting the abscisic acid sensitivity of Arabidopsis germination and seedling growth

To gain more insight into ABA signaling mechanisms, we conducted genetic screens searching for mutants with altered ABA response in germination and post-germination growth. We isolated seven putative ABA-hypersensitive Arabidopsis mutants and named them ABA-hypersensitive germination (ahg). These mutants exhibited diminished germination or growth ability on medium supplemented with ABA. We further studied four of them: ahg1, ahg2, ahg3 and ahg4. Mapping suggested that they were new ABA-hypersensitive loci. Characterization showed that all of them had enhanced sensitivity to salinity and high osmotic stress in germinating seeds, whereas they each had distinct sugar responses. RT-PCR experiments showed that the expression patterns of the ABA-inducible genes RAB18, AtEm1, AtEm6 and ABI5 in germinating seeds were affected by these four ahg mutations, whereas those of ABI3 and ABI4 were not. ahg4 displayed slightly increased mRNA levels of several ABA-inducible genes upon ABA treatment. By contrast, ahg1 had no clear ABA-hypersensitive phenotypes in adult plants despite its strong phenotype in germination. These results suggest that ahg1, ahg2, ahg3 and ahg4 are novel ABA-hypersensitive mutants representing distinct components in the ABA response.     

MicroRNA gene regulation cascades during early stages of plant development

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate various developmental programs of plants. This review focuses on miRNA involvement in early events of plant development, such as seed germination, seedling development and the juvenile to adult phase transition. miR159 and miR160 are involved in the regulation of seed germination through their effects on the sensitivity of seeds to ABA. miR156 and miR172 play critical roles in the emergence of vegetative leaves at post-germinative stages, which is important for the transition to autotrophic growth. The phase transition from the juvenile to adult stage in both monocots and dicots is also regulated by miR156 and miR172. In these early developmental processes, there are miRNA gene regulation cascades where the miR156 pathway acts upstream of the miR172 pathway. Moreover, targets of miR156 and miR172 exert positive feedback on the expression of MIR genes that suppress themselves. The early events of plant development appear to be controlled by complex mechanisms involving sequential expression of different miRNA pathways and feedback loops among miRNAs and their target genes.     

Brassinosteroids Regulate Growth in Plants Under Stressful Environments and Crosstalk with Other Potential Phytohormones

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are an important group of plant steroidal hormones that are actively involved in a myriad of key growth and developmental processes from germination to senescence. Moreover, BRs are known for their effective role in alleviation of stress-induced changes in normal metabolism via the activation of different tolerance mechanisms. Efforts to improve plant growth through exogenous application of BRs (through different modes such as foliar spray, presowing seed treatment, or through root growing medium) have gained considerable ground world over. It has been widely demonstrated that the exogenous application of BRs to stressed plants imparts the stress tolerance mechanisms. In BR-induced regulation of physio-biochemical processes in plants, interaction (crosstalk) of BRs with other phytohormones has been reported. This crosstalk may fine-tune the effective roles of other hormones in regulating stress tolerance. The multifaceted role of BRs consolidated so far has reflected their immense potential to help plants in counteracting the stress-induced changes. The effects of introgression and up- and down-regulation of BR-related genes reported so far to improve crop productivity have been presented here. Strong evidence exists that BRs are involved in signal transduction particularly in the regulation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade, which in turn is involved in controlled development, cell death, and the perception of pathogen-associated molecular pattern (PAMP) signaling. How far BRs are involved in signal transduction pathways operative under stressful environments has also been comprehensively discussed in this review.     

植物细胞自噬基因的功能与转录调控机制

自噬(autophagy)是真核生物长期进化形成的一种高度保守的细胞内物质降解和周转途径,通过形成双层膜结构的自噬体将包裹其中的待降解大分子物质,如受损伤的蛋白质、蛋白质复合物和细胞器,运送至液泡或溶酶体进行降解并产生可循环利用的降解产物。细胞自噬在植物生长发育和环境应答等过程中发挥重要作用。在拟南芥(Arabidop...     

Primary and Lateral Root Development of Dark- and Light-Grown Cotton Seedlings under Salinity Stress*

Primary root growth dynamics and lateral root development of dark- and light grown cotton seedlings (Gossypium hirsutum L., cv. Acala SJ-2) were studied under control and salinity stress conditions. The seedlings were grown by two methods: A) in paper-lined, vermiculite-filled beakers with the plants growing between the paper and the glass wall (Gladish and Rost, 1993), and B) in hydroponics after germination and initial growth in germination paper rolls saturated with the treatment solutions (Kent and Läuchli, 1985). After germination, daily primary root elongation rate gradually incrased to a maximum, then gradually declined to close to zero for dark-grown seedlings, or to sustained rates of about 10 mm per day for light-grown control plants. Salinity stress delayed primary root growth and reduced peak elongation rates, without changing the general primary root growth pattern. These results suggest that salinity changed the time-scale, but did not modify the normal developmental sequence. Lateral root growth was more inhibited by salinity than primary root growth. In addition, elongation of lateral roots was more inhibited by salinity than their initiation and emergence. Light exposure of the shoot favored both sustained primary root growth from 7 days after planting, and lateral root emergence and growth. Salinity effects were more severe on seedlings germinated and grown in hydroponics (method B) than on vermiculite-grown plants (method A). These results emphasize the importance of growing conditions for the NaCl-induced effects on cotton root development. In addition, the differential effects of salinity on primary and lateral roots became evident, pointing to diverse control mechanisms for the development of these root types.     

High salinity impacts germination of the halophyte Cakile maritima but primes seeds for rapid germination upon stress release

Seed germination recovery aptitude is an adaptive trait of overriding significance for the successful establishment and dispersal of extremophile plants in their native ecosystems. Cakile maritima is an annual halophyte frequent on Mediterranean coasts, which produces transiently dormant seeds under high salinity, that germinate fast when soil salinity is lowered by rainfall. Here, we report ecophysiological and proteomic data about (1) the effect of high salt (200 mM NaCl) on the early developmental stages (germination and seedling) and (2) the seed germination recovery capacity of this species. Upon salt exposure, seed germination was severely inhibited and delayed and seedling length was restricted. Interestingly, non‐germinated seeds remained viable, showing high germination percentage and faster germination than the control seeds after their transfer onto distilled water. The plant phenotypic plasticity during germination was better highlighted by the proteomic data. Salt exposure triggered (1) a marked slower degradation of seed storage reserves and (2) a significant lower abundance of proteins involved in several biological processes (primary metabolism, energy, stress‐response, folding and stability). Yet, these proteins showed strong increased abundance early after stress release, thereby sustaining the faster seed storage proteins mobilization under recovery conditions compared to the control. Overall, as part of the plant survival strategy, C. maritima seems to avoid germination and establishment under high salinity. However, this harsh condition may have a priming‐like effect, boosting seed germination and vigor under post‐stress conditions, sustained by active metabolic machinery.