盐生植物海滨锦葵幼苗盐胁迫下基因差异表达分析

利用cDNA-AFLP技术对海滨锦葵幼苗盐胁迫下叶片和根部的基因差异表达模式进行分析和比较, 并对部分盐胁迫应答的转录衍生片段进行了回收、测序和功能推测, 以从转录水平分析海滨锦葵的耐盐分子机制。结果显示：(1) 盐胁迫下海滨锦葵幼苗叶片和根部的基因差异表达多以量的变化为主, 包括盐胁迫下基因表达上调、下调或随盐处理浓度高低和胁迫时间长短而波动的差异表达模式; 只有少量基因的差异表达表现出质的变化, 如盐胁迫下基因沉默或诱导表达; (2) 仅在盐胁迫处理2 h的海滨锦葵幼苗根部, 基因的差异表达以质的变化为主的类型比例略高于量的变化类型比例; (3) 盐胁迫应答基因在不同组织中上调、下调、诱导或沉默的比例随胁迫处理时段而动态变化, 在刚胁迫时基因表达的差异加剧, 而后随胁迫处理时段的延长而渐趋稳定。结果预示, 从基因表达水平探讨植物的耐盐分子机理, 尽管有一定的规律可循, 但由于不同组织对盐胁迫的应答是动态变化的过程, 海滨锦葵不同组织在盐胁迫不同阶段的基因时、空、序表达特征并没有固定的程式。对部分盐胁迫下上调或诱导表达的转录衍生片段(Trivially distributed file system, TDFs)进行的序列分析和功能推测表明, 苗期海滨锦葵在盐胁迫下应答基因至少涉及3类：(1) 离子平衡重建或减少胁迫损伤相关基因(特别是运转蛋白类); (2) 恢复盐胁迫下植物生长和发育相关基因：如参与能量合成和激素调节途径相关基因等; (3)信号转导相关基因及功能未确定的新基因。文章并对盐胁迫应答基因的差异表达模式与海滨锦葵的耐盐性关系进行了讨论。     

Comparative physiology of salt and water stress

Plant responses to salt and water stress have much in common. Salinity reduces the ability of plants to take up water, and this quickly causes reductions in growth rate, along with a suite of metabolic changes identical to those caused by water stress. The initial reduction in shoot growth is probably due to hormonal signals generated by the roots. There may be salt-specific effects that later have an impact on growth; if excessive amounts of salt enter the plant, salt will eventually rise to toxic levels in the older transpiring leaves, causing premature senescence, and reduce the photosynthetic leaf area of the plant to a level that cannot sustain growth. These effects take time to develop. Salt-tolerant plants differ from salt-sensitive ones in having a low rate of Na+ and Cl-- transport to leaves, and the ability to compartmentalize these ions in vacuoles to prevent their build-up in cytoplasm or cell walls and thus avoid salt toxicity. In order to understand the processes that give rise to tolerance of salt, as distinct from tolerance of osmotic stress, and to identify genes that control the transport of salt across membranes, it is important to avoid treatments that induce cell plasmolysis, and to design experiments that distinguish between tolerance of salt and tolerance of water stress.     

Developing salt tolerant plants in a new century: a molecular biology approach

Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress in plant agriculture strongly, influencing plant productivity world-wide. Classical breeding for salt tolerance in crop plants has been attempted to improve field performance without success. Therefore, an alternative strategy is to generate salt tolerant plants through genetic engineering. Several species and experimental approaches have been used in order to identify those genes that are important for salt tolerance. Due to high level of salt tolerance, halophytes are good candidates to identify salt tolerance genes. However, other species such as yeast and glycophytes have also been employed. Three approaches are commonly used to identify genes important for salt tolerance. The first approach is to identify genes involved in processes known to be critical for salt tolerance (osmolyte synthesis, ion homeostasis, etc.). The second approach is to identify genes whose expression is regulated by salt stress. This is relatively simply and applicable to any plant species. Genetic amenability of some species allows the third approach, which consists in the identification of salt tolerance determinants based on functionality. At the moment, there is a large number of reports in the literature claiming that plants with increased salt tolerance have been obtained. The main problem is that different plant species, stage of development, organs, promoters and salt conditions used it is difficult to compare the degree of salt tolerance conferred by different genes. In this review, we discuss progress made towards understanding the molecular elements involved in salt stress responses that have been used in transgenic approaches to improve salt tolerance.     

Microbial amelioration of crop salinity stress

The use of soil and irrigation water with a high content of soluble salts is a major limiting factor for crop productivity in the semi-arid areas of the world. While important physiological insights about the mechanisms of salt tolerance in plants have been gained, the transfer of such knowledge into crop improvement has been limited. The identification and exploitation of soil microorganisms (especially rhizosphere bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi) that interact with plants by alleviating stress opens new alternatives for a pyramiding strategy against salinity, as well as new approaches to discover new mechanisms involved in stress tolerance. Although these mechanisms are not always well understood, beneficial physiological effects include improved nutrient and water uptake, growth promotion, and alteration of plant hormonal status and metabolism. This review aims to evaluate the beneficial effects of soil biota on the plant response to saline stress, with special reference to phytohormonal signalling mechanisms that interact with key physiological processes to improve plant tolerance to the osmotic and toxic components of salinity. Improved plant nutrition is a quite general beneficial effect and may contribute to the maintenance of homeostasis of toxic ions under saline stress. Furthermore, alteration of crop hormonal status to decrease evolution of the growth-retarding and senescence-inducing hormone ethylene (or its precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid), or to maintain source-sink relations, photosynthesis, and biomass production and allocation (by altering indole-3-acetic acid and cytokinin biosynthesis) seem to be promising target processes for soil biota-improved crop salt tolerance.     

The Physiological,Biochemical and Molecular Roles of Brassinosteroids and Salicylic Acid in Plant Processes and Salt Tolerance

Plant hormones regulate plant growth and development by affecting an array of cellular, physiological, and developmental processes, including, but not limited to, cell division and elongation, stomatal regulation, photosynthesis, transpiration, ion uptake and transport, initiation of leaf, flower and fruit development, and senescence. Environmental factors such as salinity, drought, and extreme temperatures may cause a reduction in plant growth and productivity by altering the endogenous levels of plant hormones, sensitivity to plant hormones, and/or signaling pathways. Molecular and physiological studies have determined that plant hormones and abiotic stresses have interactive effects on a number of basic biochemical and physiological processes, leading to reduced plant growth and development. Various strategies have been considered or employed to maximize plant growth and productivity under environmental stresses such as salt-stress. A fundamental approach is to develop salt-tolerant plants through genetic means. Breeding for salt tolerance, however, is a long-term endeavor with its own complexities and inherent difficulties. The success of this approach depends, among others, on the availability of genetic sources of tolerance and reliable screening techniques, identification and successful transfer of genetic components of tolerance to desired genetic backgrounds, and development of elite breeding lines and cultivars with salt tolerance and other desirable agricultural characteristics. Such extensive processes have delayed development of successful salt-tolerant cultivars in most crop species. An alternative and technically simpler approach is to induce salt tolerance through exogenous application of certain plant growth–regulating compounds. This approach has gained significant interest during the past decade, when a wealth of new knowledge has become available on the beneficial roles of the six classes of plant hormones (auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, ethylene, and brassinosteroids) as well as several other plant growth–regulating substances (jasmonates, salicylates, polyamines, triacontanol, ascorbic acid, and tocopherols) on plant stress tolerance. Among these, brassinosteroids (BRs) and salicylic acid (SA) have been studied most extensively. Both BRs and SA are ubiquitous in the plant kingdom, affecting plant growth and development in many different ways, and are known to improve plant stress tolerance. In this article, we review and discuss the current knowledge and possible applications of BRs and SA that could be used to mitigate the harmful effects of salt-stress in plants. We also discuss the roles of exogenous applications of BRs and SA in the regulation of various biochemical and physiological processes leading to improved salt tolerance in plants.     

Salt tolerance in crop plants: new approaches through tissue culture and gene regulation

Recent approaches to study of salinity tolerance in crop plants have ranged from genetic mapping to molecular characterization of gene products induced by salt/drought stress. Transgenic plant design has allowed to test the effects of overexpression of specific prokaryotic or plant genes that are known to be up-regulated by salt/drought stress. This review summarizes current progress in the field in the context of adaptive metabolic and physiological responses to salt stress and their potential role in long term tolerance. Specifically considered are gene activation by salt, in view of proposed avenues for improved salt tolerance and the need to ascertain the additional influences of developmental regulation of such genes. Discussion includes the alternate genetic strategy we have pursued for improving salinity tolerance in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). This strategy combines single-step selection of salt-tolerant cells in culture, followed by regeneration of salt-tolerant plants and identification of genes important in conferring salt tolerance. We have postulated that activation or improved expression of a subset of genes encoding functions that are particularly vulnerable under conditions of salt-stress could counteract the molecular effects of such stress and could provide incremental improvements in tolerance. We have proceeded to identify the acquired specific changes in gene regulation for our salt-tolerant mutant cells and plants. One particularly interesting and novel gene isolate from the salt-tolerant cells is Alfin1, which encodes a putative zinc-finger regulatory protein, expressed predominantly in roots. We have demonstrated that this protein binds DNA in a sequence specific manner and may be potentially important in gene regulation in roots in response to salt and an important marker for salt tolerance in crop plants.     

Screening of rice (Oryza sativa L.) genotypes for physiological characters contributing to salinity resistance,and their relationship to overall performance

Summary Phenotypic resistance of salinity is expressed as the ability to survive and grow in a salinised medium. Some subjective measure of overall performance has normally been used in plant breeding programmes aimed at increasing salinity resistance, not only to evaluate progeny, but to select parents. Salinity resistance has, at least implicitly, been treated as a single trait. Physiological studies of rice suggest that a range of characteristics (such as low shoot sodium concentration, compartmentation of salt in older rather than younger leaves, tolerance to salt within leaves and plant vigour) would increase the ability of the plant to cope with salinity. We describe the screening of a large number of rice genotypes for overall performance (using an objective measure based on survival) and for the aforementioned physiological traits. There was wide variation in all the characters studied, but only vigour was strongly correlated with survival. Shoot sodium concentration, which a priori is expected to be important, accounted for only a small proportion of the variability in the survival of salinity. Tissue tolerance (the cellular component of resistance reflecting the ability to compartmentalise salt within leaves) revealed a fivefold range between genotypes in the tolerance of their leaves to salt, but this was not correlated positively with survival. On the basis of such (lack of) correlation, these traits would be rejected in normal plant breeding practice, but we discuss the fallacies involved in attempting correlation between individual traits and the overall performance of a salt-sensitive species in saline conditions. We conclude that whilst overall performance (survival) can be used to evaluate the salt resistance of a genotype, it is not the basis on which parents should be selected to construct a complex character through breeding. It was the norm for varieties which had one good characteristic affecting salt resistance to be unexceptional or poor in the others. This constitutes experimental evidence that the potential for salt resistance present in the rice genome has not been realised in genotypes currently extant. The results are discussed in relation to the use of physiological traits in plant breeding, with particular reference to environmental stresses that do not affect a significant part of a species' ecological range.     

不同类型盐生植物适应盐胁迫的生理生长机制及Na+逆向转运研究进展

盐生植物是指能在离子浓度至少200 mmol/L以上的生境中生长并完成生活史的植物。盐生植物可分为稀盐盐生植物、泌盐盐生植物、拒盐盐生植物三类。本文从生长形态、生理和分子3个方面总结三类盐生植物响应盐胁迫的不同策略及研究进展,发现盐生植物在分子水平上主要通过Na⁺转运蛋白和为其提供能量的两类基因应对体内过高Na⁺,这可能是引起盐生植物生理和生长形态异于非盐生植物的重要因素。其中稀盐盐生植物主要通过液泡离子区隔化应对盐胁迫,并表现出肉质化生长形态;泌盐盐生植物通过将体内盐分排出体外应对盐胁迫,并进化出特有的生理结构——盐腺或盐囊泡;拒盐盐生植物通过将盐离子积累在皮层细胞液泡和根部木质部薄壁细胞中减少向上运输Na⁺,同时根部多栓质化减少Na⁺吸收。本综述旨在为今后研究盐生植物及其耐盐机制提供相关依据,为植物耐盐分子育种奠定基础。     

Role of nitric oxide in tolerance of plants to abiotic stress

Nitric oxide (NO) has now gained significant place in plant science, mainly due to its properties (free radical, small size, no charge, short-lived, and highly diffusible across biological membranes) and multifunctional roles in plant growth, development, and regulation of remarkable spectrum of plant cellular mechanisms. In the last few years, the role of NO in tolerance of plants to abiotic stress has established much consideration. As it is evident from the present review, recent progress on NO potentiality in tolerance of plants to environmental stresses has been impressive. These investigations suggest that NO, itself, possesses antioxidant properties and might act as a signal in activating ROS-scavenging enzyme activities under abiotic stress. NO plays an important role in resistance to salt, drought, temperature (high and low), UV-B, and heavy metal stress. Rapidly increasing evidences indicate that NO is essentially involve in several physiological processes; however, there has been much disagreement regarding the mechanism(s) by which NO reduces abiotic stress.     

RD20, a stress-inducible caleosin, participates in stomatal control, transpiration and drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

Plants overcome water deficit conditions by combining molecular, biochemical and morphological changes. At the molecular level, many stress-responsive genes have been isolated, but knowledge of their physiological functions remains fragmentary. Here, we report data for RD20, a stress-inducible Arabidopsis gene that belongs to the caleosin family. As for other caleosins, we showed that RD20 localized to oil bodies. Although caleosins are thought to play a role in the degradation of lipids during seed germination, induction of RD20 by dehydration, salt stress and ABA suggests that RD20 might be involved in processes other than germination. Using plants carrying the promoter RD20::uidA construct, we show that RD20 is expressed in leaves, guard cells and flowers, but not in root or in mature seeds. Water deficit triggers a transient increase in RD20 expression in leaves that appeared predominantly dependent on ABA signaling. To assess the biological significance of these data, a functional analysis using rd20 knock-out and overexpressing complemented lines cultivated either in standard or in water deficit conditions was performed. The rd20 knock-out plants present a higher transpiration rate that correlates with enhanced stomatal opening and a reduced tolerance to drought as compared with the wild type. These results support a role for RD20 in drought tolerance through stomatal control under water deficit conditions.     

Comparative Analysis and Identification of miRNAs and Their Target Genes Responsive to Salt Stress in Diploid and Tetraploid Paulownia fortunei Seedlings

Salt stress is a global environmental problem that affects plant growth and development. Paulownia fortunei is an adaptable and fast-growing deciduous tree native to China that is environmentally and economically important. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important regulatory roles in growth, development, and stress responses in plants. MiRNAs that respond to biotic stresses have been identified; however, how miRNAs in P. fortunei respond to salt stress has not yet been reported. To identify salt-stress-responsive miRNAs and predict their target genes, four small RNA and four degradome libraries were constructed from NaCl-treated and NaCl-free leaves of P. fortunei seedlings. The results indicated that salt stress had different physiological effects on diploid and tetraploid P. fortunei. We detected 53 conserved miRNAs belonging to 17 miRNA families and 134 novel miRNAs in P. fortunei. Comparing their expression levels in diploid and tetraploid P. fortunei, we found 10 conserved and 10 novel miRNAs that were significantly differentially expressed under salt treatment, among them eight were identified as miRNAs probably associated with higher salt tolerance in tetraploid P. fortunei than in diploid P. fortunei. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses were performed to predict the functions of the target genes of the conserved and novel miRNAs. The expressions of 10 differentially expressed miRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). This is the first report on P. fortunei miRNAs and their target genes under salt stress. The results provided information at the physiological and molecular levels for further research into the response mechanisms of P. fortunei to salt stress.     

Role of AP2/EREBP transcription factors in gene regulation during abiotic stress.

Crop plants are exposed to many types of abiotic stress during their life cycle. Water deficit derived from drought, low temperature or high salt concentration in the soil, is one of the most common environmental stresses that affects growth and development of plants through alterations in metabolism and gene expression. Adaptation to these conditions may involve passive tolerance or active homeostatic mechanisms for maintaining water balance. Active responses occur at different levels in the plant and may represent a concomitant protection against other types of stress such as pathogen attack. Many morphological and physiological adaptations to water stress are under the control of the plant hormone abscisic acid and involve specific activation of target genes that in one way or another protect cells against water deficit or participate in the regulation of the drought response. Here, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of drought adaptation mediated by specific changes in gene expression and the role of AP2/EREBP nuclear factors in these processes.     

Review article. Molecular biology of salt tolerance in the context of whole-plant physiology

The halobacteria are the only organisms that are tolerant of salinity at the molecular level. All other bacteria, all fungi, all plants, and all animals avoid the need for salt tolerance for most of their macromolecules by maintaining defined and conserved conditions in the cytoplasm. These conditions favour potassium over sodium, the limitation of total inorganic ion activity, and the supplementation of this where necessary with organic solutes which are metabolically neutral osmolytes that may also be osmoprotectant. The salt tolerance of an organism depends upon the range of external salinity over which it is able to sustain these conditions in the cytoplasm. There is substantial and increasing knowledge of the molecular biology and molecular genetics of the processes of ion and organic solute transport, solute synthesis, and compartmentation that underpin cell-based tolerance. Much of recent research focuses on the identification of genes and gene products that affect cell-based tolerance, commonly derived from single-cell models. There is commonly the implicit or explicit assumption that incorporation of these genes will benefit the salt tolerance of food crop species. While this essential experimental approach is giving enormous insight there should not be rash or premature expectations. The unique and overriding consideration for the salinity tolerance of terrestrial plants is the net flux of water due to transpiration and so resides at a higher level of organization. Processes that are advantageous to a single cell in an aqueous medium may be lethal to a cell in a leaf in the air. The likely impact of single structural-gene changes in ion and solute transport upon co-ordinated plant response is probably over-estimated, and recent views consider regulatory processes and multiple gene transfers. While the technical ability for plant transformation increases daily, the practicality of using transgenic plants in complex breeding programmes seems rarely to be given enough thought. If intervention at the molecular level is to lead to salt-tolerant crop plants than it will be essential to view this in the contexts of whole plants and of plant breeding. Recent indications that a relatively small number of quantitative trait loci (QTL) may govern complex physiological characters offer the most hope for the future.     

A review on transporters in salt tolerant mangroves

Key message

The role of transporters in imparting salt tolerance to mangroves is not yet understood. Identification of the role of transporters in halophytes is promising, as far as the development of genetically engineered salt tolerant crops is concerned.

Abstract

Mangroves are models for stress tolerance and they provide a reservoir for some of the novel genes and proteins, involved in salt tolerance. Biochemical or physiological mechanisms contribute to salt tolerance depending on variations in the environment. A great deal of research on salinity tolerance of plants, probes into water relations, photosynthesis, and accumulation of various in-organic ions and organic metabolites. The ability of the plant to react to high salinity depends on the genes that are expressed during stress. The mechanism of salinity tolerance becomes complicated when the responses of plants varies with salinity and environmental conditions. During the onset and development of salt stress within a plant, major processes such as photosynthesis, protein synthesis and lipid metabolisms are affected. The present review attempts to dissect out the role of transporters in salt tolerance of mangroves.     

盐生植物盐爪爪的耐盐生理特性探讨

当前土壤盐渍化日益严重,是限制植物生长的一个主要环境因子,然而在盐碱自然环境中生长着许多耐盐植物,为更好地了解盐生植物的耐盐机理,该文从无机离子Na+,K+,Ca2+含量、脯氨酸水平、水势变化、丙二醛含量和盐胁迫的表型等生理参数以及半定量RT-PCR检测脯氨酸合成关键酶基因(P5CS)的表达规律等方面探讨盐胁迫下盐爪爪的耐盐特性。结果表明:(1)随着盐浓度的升高,Na+在根和肉质化的叶中显著地富集,且叶中积累的Na+比根中更多;(2)在盐胁迫条件下,随着盐浓度的增加,脯氨酸的含量和脯氨酸合成关键酶基因的表达显著地增强;(3)Na+和脯氨酸是植物有效的渗透调节剂,可使处于低水势的植物细胞仍能从细胞外高浓度的盐溶液中吸收水分;(4)在0和700 mmol·L-1Na Cl处理下,盐爪爪肉质化叶中丙二醛的含量较其它处理高,这表明植物在这两个处理下可能受到了氧化胁迫;(5)从盐胁迫3个月的生长表型来看,低盐环境中生长的盐爪爪植株的生物量更多,肉质化的叶嫩且绿。综上所述,结合对野外生境的调查和实验室长期的盐胁迫表型结果表明盐爪爪的生长是需盐的,相对低的盐浓度环境对盐爪爪的生长是顺境,而无盐或高浓度盐环境对于盐爪爪的生长来说都是逆境。该研究结果为全面深入研究盐爪爪的耐盐特性,以及更好地利用盐爪爪的生物和基因资源改良土壤和提高作物和林木的耐盐性奠定基础。