The microfilament cytoskeleton plays a vital role in salt and osmotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis

Although recent studies have suggested that the microfilament (MF) cytoskeleton of plant cells participates in the response to salt stress, it remains unclear as to whether the MF cytoskeleton actually plays an active role in a plant's ability to withstand salt stress. In the present study, we report for the first time the role of MFs in salt tolerance of Arabidopsis thaliana . Our experiments revealed that Arabidopsis seedlings treated with 150 m m NaCl maintained MF assembly and bundle formation, whereas treatment with 250 m m NaCl initially induced MF assembly but subsequently caused MF disassembly. A corresponding change in the fluorescence intensity of MFs was also observed; that is, a sustained rise in fluorescence intensity in seedlings exposed to 150 m m NaCl and an initial rise and subsequent fall in seedlings exposed to 250 m m NaCl. These results suggest that MF assembly and bundles are induced early after salt stress treatment, while MF polymerization disappears after high salt stress. Facilitation of MF assembly with phalloidin rescued wild-type seedlings from death, whereas blocking MFs assembly with latrunculin A and cytochalasin D resulted in few survivors under salt stress. Pre-treatment of seedlings with phalloidin also clearly increased plant ability to withstand salt stress. MF assembly increased survival of Arabidopsis salt-sensitive sos2 mutants under salt stress and rescued defective sos2 mutants. Polymerization of MFs and its role in promoting survival was also found in plants exposed to osmotic stress. These findings suggest that the MF cytoskeleton participates and plays a vital role in responses to salt and osmotic stress in Arabidopsis .     

生物炭调控盐胁迫下水稻幼苗耐盐性能

土壤盐渍化降低土壤生产力.探索生物炭对盐胁迫下水稻幼苗耐盐性能的影响,对调控盐渍区水稻生产潜力具有重要意义.本研究通过生物炭介入盐胁迫稻田土壤的盆栽试验,调查了生物炭对盐胁迫下土壤环境和水稻幼苗耐盐性能的影响.盐胁迫设置4个水平,分别为0 g NaCl·kg-1土(S0),1 g NaCl·kg-1土(S1),2 g ...     

Expression of a calcineurin gene improves salt stress tolerance in transgenic rice

Calcineurin is a Ca²⁺- and calmodulin-dependent serine/threonine phosphatase and has multiple functions in animal cells including regulating ionic homeostasis. We generated transgenic rice plants that not only expressed a truncated form of the catalytic subunit of mouse calcineurin, but also were able to grow and fertilize normally in the field. Notably, the expression of the mouse calcineurin gene in rice resulted in its higher salt stress tolerance than the non-transgenic rice. Physiological studies have indicated that the root growth of transgenic plants was less inhibited than the shoot growth, and that less Na⁺ was accumulated in the roots of transgenic plants after a prolonged period of salt stress. These findings imply that the heterologous calcineurin plays a significant role in maintaining ionic homeostasis and the integrity of plant roots when exposed to salt. In addition, the calcineurin gene expression in the stems of transgenic plants correlated with the increased expression of the Rab16A gene that encodes a group 2-type late-embryogenesis-abundant (LEA) protein. Altogether our findings provide the first genetic and physiological evidence that expression of the mouse calcineurin protein functionally improves the salt stress tolerance of rice partly by limiting Na⁺ accumulation in the roots.     

A novel calmodulin-binding protein functions as a negative regulator of osmotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings

A clone for a novel Arabidopsisthaliana calmodulin (CaM)-binding protein of 25 kDa (AtCaMBP25) has been isolated by using a radiolabelled CaM probe to screen a cDNA expression library derived from A. thaliana cell suspension cultures challenged with osmotic stress. The deduced amino acid sequence of AtCaMBP25 contains putative nuclear localization sequences and shares significant degree of similarity with hypothetical plant proteins only. Fusion of the AtCaMBP25 coding sequence to reporter genes targets the hybrid protein to the nucleus. Bacterially expressed AtCaMBP25 binds, in a calcium-dependent manner, to a canonical CaM but not to a less conserved isoform of the calcium sensor. AtCaMBP25 is encoded by a single-copy gene, whose expression is induced in Arabidopsis seedlings exposed to dehydration, low temperature or high salinity. Transgenic plants overexpressing AtCaMBP25 exhibits an increased sensitivity to both ionic (NaCl) and non-ionic (mannitol) osmotic stress during seed germination and seedling growth. By contrast, transgenic lines expressing antisense AtCaMBP25 are significantly more tolerant to mannitol and NaCl stresses than the wild type. Thus, the AtCaMBP25 gene functions as a negative effector of osmotic stress tolerance and likely participates in stress signal transduction pathways.     

Enhanced tolerance to salt stress in transgenic rice that overexpresses chloroplast glutamine synthetase

The potential role of photorespiration in the protection against salt stress was examined with transgenic rice plants. Oryza sativa L. cv. Kinuhikari was transformed with a chloroplastic glutamine synthetase (GS2) gene from rice. Each transgenic rice plant line showed a different accumulation level of GS2. A transgenic plant line, G39-2, which accumulated about 1.5-fold more GS2 than the control plant, had an increased photorespiration capacity. In another line, G241-12, GS2 was almost lost and photorespiration activity could not be detected. Fluorescence quenching analysis revealed that photorespiration could prevent the over-reduction of electron transport systems. When exposed to 150 mM NaCl for 2 weeks, the control rice plants completely lost photosystem II activity, but G39-2 plants retained more than 90% activity after the 2-week treatment, whereas G241-12 plants lost these activities within one week. In the presence of isonicotinic acid hydrazide, an inhibitor of photorespiration, G39-2 showed the same salt tolerance as the control plants. The intracellular contents of NH₄ ⁺ and Na⁺ in the stressed plants correlated well with the levels of GS2. Thus, the enhancement of photorespiration conferred resistance to salt in rice plants. Preliminary results suggest chilling tolerance in the transformant.     

Plant salt tolerance: adaptations in halophytes

Background Most of the water on Earth is seawater, each kilogram of which contains about 35 g of salts, and yet most plants cannot grow in this solution; less than 0·2 % of species can develop and reproduce with repeated exposure to seawater. These ‘extremophiles’ are called halophytes.Scope Improved knowledge of halophytes is of importance to understanding our natural world and to enable the use of some of these fascinating plants in land re-vegetation, as forages for livestock, and to develop salt-tolerant crops. In this Preface to a Special Issue on halophytes and saline adaptations, the evolution of salt tolerance in halophytes, their life-history traits and progress in understanding the molecular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms contributing to salt tolerance are summarized. In particular, cellular processes that underpin the ability of halophytes to tolerate high tissue concentrations of Na⁺ and Cl⁻, including regulation of membrane transport, their ability to synthesize compatible solutes and to deal with reactive oxygen species, are highlighted. Interacting stress factors in addition to salinity, such as heavy metals and flooding, are also topics gaining increased attention in the search to understand the biology of halophytes.Conclusions Halophytes will play increasingly important roles as models for understanding plant salt tolerance, as genetic resources contributing towards the goal of improvement of salt tolerance in some crops, for re-vegetation of saline lands, and as ‘niche crops’ in their own right for landscapes with saline soils.     

Receptor‐like kinase OsSIK1 improves drought and salt stress tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa) plants

Receptor‐like kinases (RLKs) play essential roles in plant growth, development and responses to environmental stresses. A putative RLK gene, OsSIK1, with extracellular leucine‐rich repeats was cloned and characterized in rice (Oryza sativa). OsSIK1 exhibits kinase activity in the presence of Mn²⁺, and the OsSIK1 kinase domain has the ability to autophosphorylate and phosphorylate myelin basic protein (MBP). OsSIK1 promoter‐GUS analysis revealed that OsSIK1 is expressed mainly in the stem and spikelet in rice. The expression of OsSIK1 is mainly induced by salt, drought and H₂O₂ treatments. Transgenic rice plants with overexpression of OsSIK1 show higher tolerance to salt and drought stresses than control plants. On the contrary, the knock‐out mutants sik1‐1 and sik1‐2, as well as RNA interference (RNAi) plants, are sensitive to drought and salt stresses. The activities of peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase are enhanced significantly in OsSIK1‐overexpressing plants. Also, the accumulation of H₂O₂ in leaves of OsSIK1‐overexpressing plants is much less than that of the mutants, RNAi plants and control plants, as measured by 3,3′‐diamino benzidine (DAB) staining. We also show that OsSIK1 affects stomatal density in the abaxial and adaxial leaf epidermis of rice. These results indicate that OsSIK1 plays important roles in salt and drought stress tolerance in rice, through the activation of the antioxidative system.     

OsMPK4 promotes phosphorylation and degradation of IPA1 in response to salt stress to confer salt tolerance in rice

Salt stress adversely affects plant growth, development, and crop yield. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the most salt-sensitive cereal crops, especially at the early seedling stage. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK/MPK) cascades have been shown to play critical roles in salt response in Arabidopsis. However, the roles of the MPK cascade signaling in rice salt response and substrates of OsMPK remain largely unknown. Here, we report that the salt-induced OsMPK4-Ideal Plant Architecture 1 (IPA1) signaling pathway regulates the salt tolerance in rice. Under salt stress, OsMPK4 could interact with IPA1 and phosphorylate IPA1 at Thr180, leading to degradation of IPA1. Genetic evidence shows that IPA1 is a negative regulator of salt tolerance in rice, whereas OsMPK4 promotes salt response in an IPA1-dependent manner. Taken together, our results uncover an OsMPK4-IPA1 signal cascade that modulates the salt stress response in rice and sheds new light on the breeding of salt-tolerant rice varieties.     

小麦耐盐细胞系耐盐性分析

通过一步筛选获得了耐盐（１．０％,ＮａＣｌ）的小麦（Ｔｒｉｔｉｃｕｍ ａｅｓｔｉｖｕｍ）细胞系（Ｓｒ１）,当ＳＲ１在含１．０％,ＮａＣｌ的培养基上继代半年后,钭其中的一部分移入无盐培养基代１０次,得到细胞系ＳＲ２。无论是在正常还是办迫条件下,ＳＲ１的鲜重增量／克鲜重、脯氨酸及可溶性蛋白含量均高于原始型（ＳＮ）,而含水量均高于原始型（ＳＮ）,而含水量、Ｋ＾＋及可溶性糖含量却低于ＳＮ。Ｎａ＾＋和Ｃｌ＾     

Enhanced salt tolerance mediated by AtHKT1 transporter-induced Na unloading from xylem vessels to xylem parenchyma cells

AtHKT1 is a sodium (Na+) transporter that functions in mediating tolerance to salt stress. To investigate the membrane targeting of AtHKT1 and its expression at the translational level, antibodies were generated against peptides corresponding to the first pore of AtHKT1. Immunoelectron microscopy studies using anti-AtHKT1 antibodies demonstrate that AtHKT1 is targeted to the plasma membrane in xylem parenchyma cells in leaves. AtHKT1 expression in xylem parenchyma cells was also confirmed by AtHKT1 promoter-GUS reporter gene analyses. Interestingly, AtHKT1 disruption alleles caused large increases in the Na+ content of the xylem sap and conversely reduced the Na+ content of the phloem sap. The athkt1 mutant alleles had a smaller and inverse influence on the potassium (K+) content compared with the Na+ content of the xylem, suggesting that K+ transport may be indirectly affected. The expression of AtHKT1 was modulated not only by the concentrations of Na+ and K+ but also by the osmolality of non-ionic compounds. These findings show that AtHKT1 selectively unloads sodium directly from xylem vessels to xylem parenchyma cells. AtHKT1 mediates osmolality balance between xylem vessels and xylem parenchyma cells under saline conditions. Thus AtHKT1 reduces the sodium content in xylem vessels and leaves, thereby playing a central role in protecting plant leaves from salinity stress.