Effects of salt stress on seed germination and respiratory metabolism in different Flueggea suffruticosa genotypes.

The selection and utilization of ornamental plants that are highly tolerant to salt are helpful for landscape construction and the ecological protection of coastal and arid areas. To evaluate salt tolerance, one of the most used methods is the observation of seed germination under salt stress. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate the influence of different concentrations of NaCl in water absorption, germination, and respiratory metabolism in seeds of different Flueggea suffruticosa genotypes. P2 and P27, salt-sensitive and salt-tolerant line s of F. suffruticosa, were chosen for treatment with 0, 40, 80, 120, 160, 200, and 240 mM NaCl. F. suffruticosa under salt stress exhibited inhibition of seed germination. The seeds of F. suffruticosa have different times for the physiological phases of water absorption with different NaCl concentrations. Salt stress retarded the seed water absorption process, and it depended on seed genotypes for F. suffruticosa. Soluble sugars accumulated in both P2 and P27 under salt stress. Meanwhile, the activities of hexokinase, 6-phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, pyruvate dehydrogenase, citrate synthase, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase were overall increased in P27 after salt treatment, which caused increases in pyruvic acid and citric acid. The citrate synthase and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities decreased in P2. These results suggest that the respiratory metabolism of salt-tolerant F. suffruticosa was enhanced, compared with the salt-sensitive line, to ameliorate the repression of seed germination under salt stress. The different changes in respiratory metabolism could influence the degree of salt tolerance.

Effects of nicosulfuron on plant growth and sugar metabolism in sweet maize (Zea mays L.).

The sulfonylurea herbicide nicosulfuron is efficient, harmless and selective at low doses and has been widely used in maize cultivation. In this study, a pair of corn sister lines, HK301 (nicosulfuron-tolerence, NT) and HK320 (nicosulfuron-sensitive, NS), was chosen to study the effect of nicosulfuron on plant growth and sugar metabolism in sweet maize (Zea mays L.) seedlings. All the experimental samples were subjected to treatment with water or 80 mg kg-1 of nicosulfuron when the sweet maize seedlings grew to the four-leaf stage. Nicosulfuron significantly inhibited the growth of NS line. The content of sucrose and the activities of sucrose phosphate synthase and sucrose synthase in the two inbred lines increased differentially under nicosulfuron stress compared with the respective control treatment. After nicosulfuron treatment, the activities of hexokinase and 6-phosphofructokinase and the contents of pyruvic acid and citric acid in NS line decreased significantly compared with those of NT line, while the content of sucrose and activities of sucrose phosphate synthase and sucrose synthase increased significantly. The disruption of sugar metabolism in NS line led to a lower supply of energy for growth. This study showed that the glycolysis pathway and the tricarboxylic acid cycle were enhanced in nicosulfuron-tolerant line under nicosulfuron stress in enhancing the adaptability of sweet maize.

Whole genomes and transcriptomes reveal adaptation and domestication of pistachio.

BACKGROUND: Pistachio (Pistacia vera), one of the most important commercial nut crops worldwide, is highly adaptable to abiotic stresses and is tolerant to drought and salt stresses. RESULTS: Here, we provide a draft de novo genome of pistachio as well as large-scale genome resequencing. Comparative genomic analyses reveal stress adaptation of pistachio is likely attributable to the expanded cytochrome P450 and chitinase gene families. Particularly, a comparative transcriptomic analysis shows that the jasmonic acid (JA) biosynthetic pathway plays an important role in salt tolerance in pistachio. Moreover, we resequence 93 cultivars and 14 wild P. vera genomes and 35 closely related wild Pistacia genomes, to provide insights into population structure, genetic diversity, and domestication. We find that frequent genetic admixture occurred among the different wild Pistacia species. Comparative population genomic analyses reveal that pistachio was domesticated about 8000 years ago and suggest that key genes for domestication related to tree and seed size experienced artificial selection. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insight into genetic underpinning of local adaptation and domestication of pistachio. The Pistacia genome sequences should facilitate future studies to understand the genetic basis of agronomically and environmentally related traits of desert crops.

[Physiological response and salt-tolerance of Gleditsia microphylla under NaCl stress].

In order to exploit the salt-tolerance ability and mechanism of Gleditsia microphylla, the plant growth, cell membrane permeability, the activities of cell protective enzymes, and the distri- butions of Na+ and K+ in different tissues were investigated under various NaCl stress (0.053%, 0.15%, 0.3%, 0.45% and 0.6%) with potted two-year seedlings. The results were as follows: With the increase of NaCl concentration, the seedling growth decreased while the salt injured index in- creased, and the salt-tolerance thresholds of seedling was 0.42% NaCl. With the NaCl concentration increasing, the membrane permeability, superoxide anion radical generating rate and MDA content increased grandly, while the activities of SOD, POD and CAT demonstrated an increase-decrease curve which reached the peak at 0.3% or 0.45%. Under the high salt stress condition, the supero- xide anion could be consumed timely by increasing the activities of SOD, POD and CAT enzymes, which was useful to avoid cell injure. Under salt stress condition, the Na+ content in different tissues increased gradually, following the order of root > leaf > stem, and the K+ content and K+/Na+ in different tissues decreased, following the order of leaf > root > stem. The K+-Na+ selective transpor- tation coefficients (S(K+) · Na+) of stem and leaf tissues under the soil NaCl stress condition were both increased, following the order of leaf > stem. In conclusion, the findings suggested that the salt- adaptation mechanisms of G. microphylla were root salt-rejection by Na+ accumulation and restriction in root tissue and leaf salt-tolerance by a remarkably increased ability of K+ selective absorption and accumulation in leaf tissue.

[Effects of NaCl stress on photosynthesis characteristics and fast chlorophyll fluorescence induction dynamics of Pistacia chinensis leaves].

By using fast chlorophyll fluorescence induction dynamics analysis technique (JIP-test), this paper studied the photosynthesis characteristics and fast chlorophyll fluorescence induction dynamics of 1-year old Pistacia chinensis seedlings under the stress of NaCl at the concentrations 0% (CK), 0.15%, 0.3%, 0.45%, and 0.6%. With the increasing concentration of NaCl, the contents of Chl a, Chl b, and Chl (a+b) in the seedlings leaves decreased, the Chl a/b ratio decreased after an initial increase, and the carotenoid content increased. The net photosynthetic rate (P(n)) and stomatal conductance (g(s)) decreased gradually with increasing NaCl concentration. The decrease of P(n) was mainly attributed to the stomatal limitation when the NaCl concentration was lower than 0.3%, and to the non-stomatal limitation when the NaCl concentration was higher than 0.3%. The trapped energy flux per RC (TR0/CS0), electron transport flux per RC (ET0/CS0), density of RCs (RC/CS0), and yield or flux ratio (psi(0) or phi(E0)) decreased, but the absorption flux per CS (ABS/CS0) and the K phase (W(k)) and J phase (V) in the O-J-I-P chlorophyll fluorescence induction curves increased distinctly, indicating that NaCl stress damaged the leaf oxygen-evolving complex (OEC), donor sides, and PS II reaction centers. When the NaCl concentration reached 0.3%, the maximum photochemical efficiency (F(v)/F(m)) and performance index (PI(ABS)) decreased 17.7% and 36.6%, respectively, as compared with the control.

[Cold resistance of Pistacia chinensis and Koelreuteria integrifoliola].

Taking one-year-old dormant shoots of Pistacia chinensis and Koelreuteria integrifoliola as test materials and the shoots of northern indigenous tree species K. paniculata as the control, the changes of their membrane-lipid peroxidation, antioxidative enzyme activity, and organic osmoregulatory substance content under artificial cooling were studied, aimed to analyze the differences of the three tree species in cold resistance. With the decrease of temperature, the ion leakage percentage of the three tree species increased in S-shape, and the SOD and POD activities decreased after an initial increase. The MDA, soluble protein, and soluble sugar contents of K. integrifoliola and K. paniculata under decreasing temperature decreased after an initial increase, while those of P. chinensis had an increasing trend. The semi-lethal temperature (LT50 ) of K. paniculata, K. integrifoliola, and P. chinensis calculated by the Logistic equation of ion leakage percentage was -27.2 degrees C, -23.7 degrees C, and -27.0 degrees C, respectively. Among the three tree species, K. paniculata had the strongest cold resistance, followed by P. chinensis, and K. integrifoliola.

The high light-inducible polypeptides stabilize trimeric photosystem I complex under high light conditions in Synechocystis PCC 6803.

The high light-inducible polypeptides (HLIPs) are critical for survival under high light (HL) conditions in Synechocystis PCC 6803. In this article, we determined the localization of all four HLIPs in thylakoid protein complexes and examined effects of hli gene deletion on the photosynthetic protein complexes. The HliA and HliB proteins were found to be associated with trimeric photosystem I (PSI) complexes and the Slr1128 protein, whereas HliC was associated with PsaL and TMP14. The HliD was associated with partially dissociated PSI complexes. The PSI activities of the hli mutants were 3- to 4-fold lower than that of the wild type. The hli single mutants lost more than 30% of the PSI trimers after they were incubated in intermediate HL for 12 h. The reduction of PSI trimers were further augmented in these cells by the increase of light intensity. The quadruple hli deletion mutant contained less than one-half of PSI trimers following 12-h incubation in intermediate HL. It lost essentially all of the PSI trimers upon exposure to HL for 12 h. Furthermore, a mutant lacking both PSI trimers and Slr1128 showed growth defects similar to that of the quadruple hli deletion mutant under different light conditions. These results suggest that the HLIPs stabilize PSI trimers, interact with Slr1128, and protect cells under HL conditions.

[Effects of NaCl stress on Hovenia dulcis and Gleditsia sinensis seedlings growth, chlorophyll fluorescence, and active oxygen metabolism].

With potted Hovenia dulcis and Gleditsia sinensis seedlings as test materials, their plant growth, chlorophyll fluorescence characteristics, and active oxygen metabolism under stress of different concentration (0, 0.15%, 0.30%, 0.45%, and 0.60%) NaCl were studied. The results showed that with increasing concentration of NaCl, the plant growth, leaf chlorophyll content, photochemical efficiency of PS II (Fv/Fm), quantum yield of PS II (phi(PS II)), and photochemical quenching (q(P)) decreased gradually, while the non-photochemical quenching of fluorescence (q(N)) was in adverse. After 10 days of 0. 15% NaCl stress, the leaf chlorophyll content, Fv/Fm, phi(PS II), and q(P) of H. dulcis seedlings decreased by 19.77%, 2.94%, 29.03%, and 8.16%, respectively, with significant differences (P<0.05) to the control, while no significant differences were observed for G. sinensis seedlings. Compared with the control, the Fv/Fm and phi(PS II), of G. sinensis seedlings in treatment 0.30% NaCl decreased significantly by 1.91% and 14.66%, and the chlorophyll content and q(P) of the seedling in treatment 0.45% NaCl decreased significantly by 29.28% and 11.36%, respectively (P<0.05). With increasing concentration of NaCl, the SOD activity of G. sinensis seedlings showed a consistent increasing trend, and that of H. dulcis seedlings increased first and decreased then. The POD and CAT activities of G. sinensis and H. dulci seedlings tended to increase first and decrease then, with the increment being higher for G. sinensis than for H. dulci, while the MDA content of the seedlings had an increasing trend, with the increment being higher for H. dulcis than for G. sinensis, suggesting that the cell membrane lipid peroxidation of H. dulcis was more serious than that of G. sinensis. It was concluded that G. sinensis had greater salt tolerance than H. dulcis, which was related toits higher anti-oxidation enzyme activities.