荒漠绿洲过渡带一年生草本植物对干旱胁迫的响应

选取河西走廊荒漠绿洲过渡带典型一年生草本植物雾冰藜（Bassia dasyphylla）、虎尾草（Chloris virgata）和狗尾草（Setaria viridis）为研究对象,设置5个水分梯度（正常水分（CK）,轻度干旱（5d）、中度干旱（10d）、重度干旱（15d）,重度干旱（15d）复水）,分析了3种一年生草本植物生理和形态等性状对干旱胁迫的响应。结果表明：一年生草本植物可以通过生理反应（渗透调节）适应轻度和中度干旱胁迫,而通过个体形态来适应重度干旱胁迫。在轻度和中度干旱处理下,一年生草本植物通过调控叶片渗透调节物质脯氨酸、可溶性蛋白和可溶性糖维持叶片渗透压,提高保水能力,叶绿素含量增加,使丙二醛含量维持在较低的水平,同时,根系活力增强,有效促进了根系水分吸收;而在重度胁迫下,渗透调节物质作用降低,丙二醛含量迅速增加,导致可溶性蛋白含量下降,叶绿素分解加速,植物生长受到抑制,在有限的生物量下,一年生草本植物主要通过根系伸长、根长与茎长的比增加和减小茎长来适应重度干旱胁迫,最终导致了种子百粒重和结种数量下降。     

干旱对杉木幼苗根系构型及非结构性碳水化合物的影响

通过比较不同时期不同强度干旱胁迫下杉木1年生盆栽苗地上部分生长、根系构型以及根系中非结构性碳水化合物含量（TNC）的变化,并分析各指标之间的相关性,探究杉木根系在干旱胁迫下的适应性策略以及抗旱生理机制,以期为杉木造林生产和水分管理提供科学依据和技术指导。结果表明：随着干旱程度的加强,杉木幼苗地上部分干重（SDW）、根干重（RDW）、根长（RL）、根表面积（SA）、根体积（RV）、根尖数（RT）、根系分支角度（Angle）、分形维数（FD）逐渐减小,根冠比（R/T）逐渐增大,根系拓扑指数（TI）、根系平均直径（RD）先增大后减小,比根长（SRL）先减小后增大。而根系连接长度（LL）、TNC、糖淀比在不同时期表现出不同的趋势。连接长度随着干旱胁迫的加强在30 d和60 d时表现出逐渐增加趋势而在90 d时则表现出先减小后增大的趋势。TNC在30 d和60 d时先增大后减小,但90 d时,呈逐渐下降的趋势。糖淀比随着干旱胁迫的加强在30 d和60 d时表现出先增加后减小趋势,90 d时,表现为先减小后增大。干旱胁迫显著影响根系在不同径级的分布长度,且随着胁迫时间的延长不断变化。杉木地上部分生长与根系生长指标（RL、SA、RV、RT、RDW）以及根系构型指标（Angle、FD）之间存在显著的正相关（P < 0.01）,根系平均直径与TNC存在显著的正相关（P < 0.05）。总之,杉木通过增加根系光合产物的积累、提高根系建成成本,增加有限成本下根系的复杂程度和延伸范围,降低根系分支角度,使根系"更陡更深"来适应不同强度的干旱胁迫。     

Azospirillum brasilense ameliorates the response of Arabidopsis thaliana to drought mainly via enhancement of ABA levels

Production of phytohormones is one of the main mechanisms to explain the beneficial effects of plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) such as Azospirillum sp. The PGPRs induce plant growth and development, and reduce stress susceptibility. However, little is known regarding the stress‐related phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) produced by bacteria. We investigated the effects of Azospirillum brasilense Sp 245 strain on Arabidopsis thaliana Col‐0 and aba2‐1 mutant plants, evaluating the morphophysiological and biochemical responses when watered and in drought. We used an in vitro‐grown system to study changes in the root volume and architecture after inoculation with Azospirillum in Arabidopsis wild‐type Col‐0 and on the mutant aba2‐1, during early growth. To examine Arabidopsis development and reproductive success as affected by the bacteria, ABA and drought, a pot experiment using Arabidopsis Col‐0 plants was also carried out. Azospirillum brasilense augmented plant biomass, altered root architecture by increasing lateral roots number, stimulated photosynthetic and photoprotective pigments and retarded water loss in correlation with incremented ABA levels. As well, inoculation improved plants seed yield, plants survival, proline levels and relative leaf water content; it also decreased stomatal conductance, malondialdehyde and relative soil water content in plants submitted to drought. Arabidopsis inoculation with A. brasilense improved plants performance, especially in drought.     

Dark Septate Root Endophytic Fungus <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nectria haematococca</Emphasis> Improves Tomato Growth Under Water Limiting Conditions

The ascomycetous dark septate endophytic (DSE) fungi characterized by their melanized hyphae can confer abiotic stress tolerance in their associated plants in addition to improving plant growth and health. In this study inoculation of the DSE fungus Nectria haematococca Berk. & Broome significantly improved all the plant growth parameters like the plant height, stem girth, leaf characteristics and plant biomass of drought-stressed tomato. Root characters like the total root length, primary root diameter, 2nd order root number and diameter, root hair number and length were also significantly influenced by the fungal inoculation. Nevertheless, N. haematococca inoculation did not affect root colonization by native arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and no significant correlation existed between the AM and DSE fungal variables examined. The proline accumulation in shoots of N. haematococca inoculated plants was significantly higher than uninoculated plants. The present study clearly indicates for the first time the ability of the DSE fungus, N. haematococca in inducing the drought stress tolerance and promoting the growth of the host plant under water stress.     

干旱条件下接种AM真菌对小马鞍羊蹄甲幼苗根系的影响

为了探讨岷江干旱河谷丛枝菌根真菌(AMF)对寄主植物幼苗根系的影响,通过接种购买的AMF摩西球囊霉菌(Funneliformis mosseae)到优势乡土灌木小马鞍羊蹄甲(Bauhinia faberi var.microphylla)幼苗,在重度、中度和轻度干旱条件下培养3个月,研究不同干旱条件下AMF对幼苗根系形态特征、结构特征、功能性状的影响。方差分析结果表明:(1)3种干旱胁迫条件下,接菌均显著增加了幼苗的根总长、根表面积、根分枝数、根尖数(P0.001),在中度胁迫和轻度胁迫下,接菌显著促进根鲜重、根体积的增加(P0.001),轻度胁迫条件下接菌幼苗的根鲜重、根总长、根表面积、根体积、根尖数最高并显著高于其它处理,但接菌与未接菌的根平均直径之间没有显著差异;(2)接菌幼苗根系趋向于叉状分支结构,在重度胁迫时,叉状分支趋势更显著(P0.001);(3)接菌幼苗的根比例都显著小于未接菌的,但幼苗比根长不存在显著差异。相关分析结果表明:菌根侵染率与根鲜重、根总长、根表面积、根体积、根分枝数、根尖数呈极显著正相关(P0.001),与拓扑指数、根比例呈极显著负相关(P0.001)。研究表明,在干旱条件下,AMF虽然没有提高生长初期的根系的吸收效率,但接种AMF显著影响幼苗根系形态特征和结构特征,更利于植物适应干旱环境,并且AMF对幼苗根系的促生作用随着干旱胁迫程度减轻而提高。     

In Vitro Morphogenesis of Arabidopsis to Search for Novel Endophytic Fungi Modulating Plant Growth

Fungal endophytes have shown to affect plant growth and to confer stress tolerance to the host; however, effects of endophytes isolated from water plants have been poorly investigated. In this study, fungi isolated from stems (stem-E) and roots (root-E) of Mentha aquatica L. (water mint) were identified, and their morphogenetic properties analysed on in vitro cultured Arabidopsis (L.) Heynh., 14 and 21 days after inoculation (DAI). Nineteen fungi were analysed and, based on ITS analysis, 17 isolates showed to be genetically distinct. The overall effect of water mint endophytes on Arabidopsis fresh (FW) and dry weight (DW) was neutral and positive, respectively, and the increased DW, mainly occurring 14 DAI, was possibly related to plant defence mechanism. Only three fungi increased both FW and DW of Arabidopsis at 14 and 21 DAI, thus behaving as plant growth promoting (PGP) fungi. E-treatment caused a reduction of root depth and primary root length in most cases and inhibition-to-promotion of root area and lateral root length, from 14 DAI. Only Phoma macrostoma, among the water mint PGP fungi, increased both root area and depth, 21 DAI. Root depth and area 14 DAI were shown to influence DWs, indicating that the extension of the root system, and thus nutrient uptake, was an important determinant of plant dry biomass. Reduction of Arabidopsis root depth occurred to a great extent when plants where treated with stem-E while root area decreased or increased under the effects of stem-E and root-E, respectively, pointing to an influence of the endophyte origin on root extension. M. aquatica and many other perennial hydrophytes have growing worldwide application in water pollution remediation. The present study provided a model for directed screening of endophytes able to modulate plant growth in the perspective of future field applications of these fungi.     

Expression and functional analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">NUCLEAR FACTOR</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">Y</Emphasis>, subunit B genes in barley

NUCLEAR FACTOR-Y, subunit B (NF-YB) comprises a multigene family in plants and has been shown to play important roles in growth, development, and response to environmental stress. In this study, five NF-YBs containing the full-length coding region were obtained from barley (Hordeum vulgare) through database sequence analysis, cloning, and sequencing. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that HvNF-YB3 and HvNF-YB1 were clustered with NF-YB2 and NF-YB3 in Arabidopsis, suggesting these NF-YBs are evolutionary and functionally related. To test this hypothesis, HvNF-YB3 and HvNF-YB1 were overexpressed in Arabidopsis. Overexpression of HvNF-YB1 greatly promoted early flowering in Arabidopsis, supporting that HvNF-YB1may have conserved gene function in flowering time control as NF-YB2 and NF-YB3 in Arabidopsis. Overexpression of HvNF-YB3 in Arabidopsis had no effect on flowering time. An analysis of barley single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data, however, revealed a significant association between an HvNF-YB3 SNP and heading date. While it is unknown whether HvNF-YB3 directly contributes to heading date regulation, the results implied that HvNF-YB3 may also have conserved function in flowering time (heading date in barley) control. Further studies are needed to directly verify these gene functions in barley. Barley NF-YBs showed different expression patterns associated with tissue types, developmental stages, and response to different stress treatments, suggesting that barley NF-YBs may be involved in other physiological processes.     

Effect of potassium on drought resistance of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis cv. Leprechaun: Plant growth,leaf macro- and micronutrient content and root longevity

As competition for the limited water supply available for irrigation of horticultural crops increases, research into crop management practices that enhance drought resistance, plant water-use efficiency and plant growth when water supply is limited has become increasingly essential. This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of potassium (K) nutritional status on the drought resistance of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. cv. Leprechaun (Hibiscus). All the treatments were fertilized with Hoagland's nutrient solution, modified to supply K as K₂SO₄, at 0 mM K (K₀), 2.5 mM K (K_2.5), and 10 mM K (K₁₀), under two irrigation regimes (drought stressed [DS] and non-drought stressed [non-DS]). Regular irrigation and fertigation were adopted for 54 days, and drought stress treatment (initiated on day 55) lasted for 21 days; while non-DS control plants continued to receive regular irrigation and fertigation. Following the 21-day drought stress period, plants were labeled with ⁸⁶Rb⁺ to determine the percentage of post-drought stress live roots. Both K deficiency (K₀) and drought stress reduced shoot growth, but drought stress increased root growth and thus the root:shoot ratio. At K₀, plants were K-deficient and had the lowest leaf K, Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, B, Mo and Al, and highest Ca concentrations. Although the percentage of live roots was decreased by drought stress, K_2.5 and K₁₀ plants (with similar percent live roots) had greater root survival ratio after drought treatment than the K-deficient plants. These observations indicate that adequate K nutrition can improve drought resistance and root longevity in Hibiscus rosa-sinensis.     

Drought effect on plant biomass allocation: A meta‐analysis

Drought is one of the abiotic stresses controlling plant function and ecological stability. In the context of climate change, drought is predicted to occur more frequently in the future. Despite numerous attempts to clarify the overall effects of drought stress on the growth and physiological processes of plants, a comprehensive evaluation on the impacts of drought stress on biomass allocation, especially on reproductive tissues, remains elusive. We conducted a meta‐analysis by synthesizing 164 published studies to elucidate patterns of plant biomass allocation in relation to drought stress. Results showed that drought significantly increased the fraction of root mass but decreased that of stem, leaf, and reproductive mass. Roots of herbaceous plants were more sensitive to drought than woody plants that reduced reproductive allocation more sharply than the former. Relative to herbaceous plants, drought had a more negative impact on leaf mass fraction of woody plants. Among the herbaceous plants, roots of annuals responded to drought stress more strongly than perennial herbs, but their reproductive allocation was less sensitive to drought than the perennial herbs. In addition, cultivated and wild plants seemed to respond to drought stress in a similar way. Drought stress did not change the scaling exponents of the allometric relationship between different plant tissues. These findings suggest that the allometric partitioning theory, rather than the optimal partitioning theory, better explains the drought‐induced changes in biomass allocation strategies.     

Drought changes the structure and elemental composition of very fine roots in seedlings of ten woody tree species. Implications for a drier climate

Background and aims

Water availability is often one of the most limiting factors for plants. Climate change predictions for many areas suggest an intensification of water limitation. The ability of a plant to modify its root characteristics can be an important mechanism for preventing drought stress.

Methods

We studied the drought response of seedlings of 10 woody species and compared the biomass allocation, vertical root distribution across different root diameters, and the key traits of very fine roots (root diameter <0.5 mm) under two water regimes (no water limitation and severe drought).

Results

Under drought conditions, the very fine roots had a higher specific root length (SRL, root length: biomass ratio), smaller root diameter and higher root tissue mass density, as well as a lower nitrogen concentration. A higher value of the mean root plasticity index was related to higher drought resistance. A quantitative literature review showed that there was a wide variation in the effect of the drought on SRL, thus there was not a clear effect of drought on SRL.

Conclusions

Certain species have the necessary root traits and plasticity to survive drought. We have identified plasticity in root characteristics as a whole-plant trait which plays a significant role in separating out species into those which are vulnerable and those which are resistant to drought.     

The effects of (2RS, 3RS)-1-(4-chlorophenyl)-4, 4-dimethyl-2-(1H-1,2,4 triazol-1-yl) pentan-3-ol (Paclobutrazol:PP333) and root pruning on the growth,water use and response to drought of Colt Cherry rootstocks

The effect of (2RS, 3RS)-1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4, 4-dimethyl-2-(1H-1,2,4 triazol-1-yl) pentan-3-ol (PP333) on the growth and transpiration of normal and root pruned colt rootstocks was measured. PP333 reduced plant height, stem diameter increment, leaf number, area and weight and stem weight. Root pruning reduced root, leaf and stem weight, and plant height in control plants. PP333 reduced both total water use and transpiration per unit leaf area and increased stomatal resistance. In control plants root pruning also reduced total water use and increased stomatal resistance. 15 days after the beginning of the experiment half the plants in all treatments were allowed to dry out. The effects of drought, i.e. reduced transpiration, growth and leaf water potentials, were smaller in PP333 treated than in control plants.     

油菜素内酯合成酶基因DAS5促进杨树生长及提高抗旱性的作用

以河北杨(Populus hopeiensis)为材料, 研究拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)油菜素内酯(BR)生物合成酶基因DAS5对其生长表型、生物量及抗旱性的影响。结果表明: (1) 转DAS5基因河北杨植株的根长、地径、叶柄及叶片长度均显著大于野生型植株, 且地上、地下部分干重及根冠比显著高于野生型, 其拥有发达的根系; (2) 在干旱胁迫下, 转DAS5基因河北杨植株失水褪绿速度较野生型植株缓慢, 在复水后转基因植株能够较早较好地恢复活力, 萌发较多的新幼芽且长势良好; (3)控水期间, 转基因河北杨的相对生长率显著高于野生型, 且随着干旱胁迫程度的加剧, 其可溶性糖含量、游离脯氨酸含量、过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性、超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性均显著高于野生型。实验结果表明, 与野生型相比, 转基因植株具有较高的生长量与较强的抗干旱胁迫能力, 说明来自拟南芥的BR生物合成酶基因DAS5可以显著增加河北杨的生长量并在抵御干旱胁迫机制中发挥重要作用。     

Herb and conifer roots show similar high sensitivity to water deficit

Root systems play a major role in supplying the canopy with water, enabling photosynthesis and growth. Yet, much of the dynamic response of root hydraulics and its influence on gas exchange during soil drying and recovery remains uncertain. We examined the decline and recovery of the whole root hydraulic conductance (Kr) and canopy diffusive conductance (g_c) during exposure to moderate water stress in two species with contrasting root systems: Tanacetum cinerariifolium (herbaceous Asteraceae) and Callitris rhomboidea (woody conifer). Optical dendrometers were used to record stem water potential at high temporal resolution and enabled non-invasive measurements of Kr calculated from the rapid relaxation kinetics of water potential in hydrating roots. We observed parallel declines in Kr and g_c to <20% of unstressed levels during the early stages of water stress in both species. The recovery of Kr after rewatering differed between species. T. cinerariifolium recovered quickly, with 60% of Kr recovered within 2 h, while C. rhomboidea was much slower to return to its original Kr. Recovery of g_c followed a similar trend to Kr in both species, with C. rhomboidea slower to recover. Our findings suggest that the pronounced sensitivity of Kr to drought is a common feature among different plant species, but recovery may vary depending on root type and water stress severity. Kr dynamics are proposed to modulate g_c response during and following drought.

Root hydraulic conductance shows a similar high sensitivity to soil water deficit in herbaceous and woody roots and may control canopy diffusive conductance during drought and following recovery.     

Effect of plant growth promoting <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas</Emphasis> spp. on compatible solutes,antioxidant status and plant growth of maize under drought stress

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting yield of dryland crops. Rhizobacterial populations of stressed soils are adapted and tolerant to stress and can be screened for isolation of efficient stress adaptive/tolerant, plant growth promoting rhizobacterial (PGPR) strains that can be used as inoculants for crops grown in stressed ecosystems. The effect of inoculation of five drought tolerant plant growth promoting Pseudomonas spp. strains namely P. entomophila strain BV-P13, P. stutzeri strain GRFHAP-P14, P. putida strain GAP-P45, P. syringae strain GRFHYTP52, and P. monteilli strain WAPP53 on growth, osmoregulation and antioxidant status of maize seedlings under drought stress conditions was investigated. Drought stress induced by withholding irrigation had drastic effects on growth of maize seedlings. However seed bacterization of maize with Pseudomonas spp. strains improved plant biomass, relative water content, leaf water potential, root adhering soil/root tissue ratio, aggregate stability and mean weight diameter and decreased leaf water loss. The inoculated plants showed higher levels of proline, sugars, free amino acids under drought stress. However protein and starch content was reduced under drought stress conditions. Inoculation decreased electrolyte leakage compared to uninoculated seedlings under drought stress. As compared to uninoculated seedlings, inoculated seedlings showed significantly lower activities of antioxidant enzymes, ascorbate peroxidase (APX), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) under drought stress, indicating that inoculated seedlings felt less stress as compared to uninoculated seedlings. The strain GAP-P45 was found to be the best in terms of influencing growth and biochemical and physiological status of the seedlings under drought stress. The study reports the potential of rhizobacteria in alleviating drought stress effects in maize.     

Overexpression of AtABCG36 improves drought and salt stress resistance in Arabidopsis

Drought and salt are major abiotic stresses that adversely affect crop productivity. Thus, identification of factors that confer resistance to these stresses would pave way to increasing agricultural productivity. When grown on soil in green house longer than 5 weeks, transgenic Arabidopsis plants that overexpress an ATP‐binding cassette (ABC) transporter, AtABCG36/AtPDR8, produced higher shoot biomass and less chlorotic leaves than the wild‐type. We investigated whether the improved growth of AtABCG36‐overexpressing plants was due to their improved resistance to abiotic stresses, and found that AtABCG36‐overexpressing plants were more resistant to drought and salt stress and grew to higher shoot fresh weight (FW) than the wild‐type. On the contrary, T‐DNA insertional knockout lines were more sensitive to drought stress than wild‐type and were reduced in shoot FW. To understand the mechanism of enhanced salt and drought resistance of the AtABCG36 overexpressing plants, we measured sodium contents and found that AtABCG36 overexpressing plants were lower in sodium content than the wild‐type. Our data suggest that AtABCG36 contributes to drought and salt resistance in Arabidopsis by a mechanism that includes reduction of sodium content in plants.