Growth, physiological and transcriptomic analysis of the perennial ryegrass Lolium perenne in response to saline stress

Short-term high-temperature pretreated compost increases its application value by altering key bacteria phenotypes

Short-term high-temperature pretreatment can effectively shorten the maturity period of organic waste composting and improve the fertilizer efficiency and humification degree of products. To investigate the effect and mechanism of the end products on the saline-alkali soil improvement and plant growth, the short-term high-temperature pretreatment composting (SHC) and traditional composting (STC) were separately blended with saline-alkali soil in a ratio of 0-40 % to establish a soil-fertilizer blended matrix for cultivating Lolium perenne L. The pot experiments combined with principal component analysis showed Lolium perenne L. planted in 20 % SHC-blended saline-alkali soil had the best growth effect, and its biomass, chlorophyll content, and plant height were 109-113 % higher than STC. The soil physicochemical property analysis showed that SHC and STC increased the soil nutrient content, humification degree, and enzyme activity at any blending ratio. The microbial analysis showed that 20 % SHC in the saline-alkali soil stimulated the growth of functional microorganisms and the addition of SHC promoted the sulfur cycle, nitrogen fixation, and carbon metabolism in the soil-plant system. The correlation analysis showed that pH; nutrient contents; and urease, catalase, sucrase, and phosphatase activities in the saline-alkali soil were significantly correlated with plant growth indexes (p < 0.05). Georgenia and norank_f__Fodinicurvataceae had a stronger correlation with four types of enzyme activities (p < 0.01). SHC improved the saline-alkali soil and promoted plant growth by adjusting soil pH, increasing soil nutrients, and influencing soil enzyme activity and dominant flora. This study provides a theoretical basis for applying SHC products in soil improvement.

Integrative multi-omics analysis reveals the crucial biological pathways involved in the adaptive response to NaCl stress in peanut seedlings

Plant growth is restricted by salt stress, which is a significant abiotic factor, particularly during the seedling stage. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanisms underlying peanut adaptation to salt stress by transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis during the seedling stage. In this study, phenotypic variations of FH23 and NH5, two peanut varieties with contrasting tolerance to salt, changed obviously, with the strongest differences observed at 24 h. FH23 leaves wilted and the membrane system was seriously damaged. A total of 1470 metabolites were identified, with flavonoids being the most common (21.22%). Multi-omics analyses demonstrated that flavonoid biosynthesis (ko00941), isoflavones biosynthesis (ko00943), and plant hormone signal transduction (ko04075) were key metabolic pathways. The comparison of metabolites in isoflavone biosynthesis pathways of peanut varieties with different salt tolerant levels demonstrated that the accumulation of naringenin and formononetin may be the key metabolite leading to their different tolerance. Using our transcriptomic data, we identified three possible reasons for the difference in salt tolerance between the two varieties: (1) differential expression of LOC112715558 (HIDH) and LOC112709716 (HCT), (2) differential expression of LOC112719763 (PYR/PYL) and LOC112764051 (ABF) in the abscisic acid (ABA) signal transduction pathway, then (3) differential expression of genes encoding JAZ proteins (LOC112696383 and LOC112790545). Key metabolites and candidate genes related to improving the salt tolerance in peanuts were screened to promote the study of the responses of peanuts to NaCl stress and guide their genetic improvement.

Lipid Metabolomic and Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal That Phosphatidylcholine Enhanced the Resistance of Peach Seedlings to Salt Stress through Phosphatidic Acid

Soil salinity is a major conlinet limiting sustainable agricultural development in peach tree industry. In this study, lipid metabolomic pathway analysis indicated that phosphatidic acid is essential for root resistance to salt stress in peach seedlings. Through functional annotation analysis of differentially expressed genes in transcriptomics, we found that MAPK signaling pathway is closely related to peach tree resistance to salt stress, wherein PpMPK6 expression is significantly upregulated. Under salt conditions, the OE-PpMPK6 Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. line showed higher resistance to salt stress than WT and KO-AtMPK6 lines. Furthermore, we found that the Na⁺ content in OE-PpMPK6 roots was significantly lower than that in WT and KO-AtMPK6 roots, indicating that phosphatidic acid combined with PpMPK6 activated the SOS1 (salt-overly-sensitive 1) protein to enhance Na⁺ efflux, thus alleviating the damage caused by NaCl in roots; these findings provide insight into the salt stress-associated transcriptional regulation.

Improving abiotic stress tolerance of forage grasses - prospects of using genome editing

Due to an increase in the consumption of food, feed, and fuel and to meet global food security needs for the rapidly growing human population, there is a necessity to obtain high-yielding crops that can adapt to future climate changes. Currently, the main feed source used for ruminant livestock production is forage grasses. In temperate climate zones, perennial grasses grown for feed are widely distributed and tend to suffer under unfavorable environmental conditions. Genome editing has been shown to be an effective tool for the development of abiotic stress-resistant plants. The highly versatile CRISPR-Cas system enables increasingly complex modifications in genomes while maintaining precision and low off-target frequency mutations. In this review, we provide an overview of forage grass species that have been subjected to genome editing. We offer a perspective view on the generation of plants resilient to abiotic stresses. Due to the broad factors contributing to these stresses the review focuses on drought, salt, heat, and cold stresses. The application of new genomic techniques (e.g., CRISPR-Cas) allows addressing several challenges caused by climate change and abiotic stresses for developing forage grass cultivars with improved adaptation to the future climatic conditions. Genome editing will contribute towards developing safe and sustainable food systems.

Influence of different phytoremediation on soil microbial diversity and community composition in saline-alkaline land

Soil salinization is one main environmental factor restricting plant growth and agricultural productivity. However, phytoremediation is one of the important means to improve saline-alkali soil by planting halophytes or salt-tolerant plants. In order to study whether there are differences among soil microorganisms in different phytoremediation, the effects of four plants, including alfalfa (MX), oil sunflower (YK), maize (YM) and ryegrass (HMC) on soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activity and microbial community diversity and composition were investigated in this study and the relationships between microbial community structure and soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activity were analyzed. The results showed that all plants treatments significantly decreased pH, TS (total saltinity) and BD (bulk density), while increased OM (organic matter), TN (total nitrogen), AN (available nitrogen), TP (total phosphorus), AP (available phosphorus), TK (total potassium) and TPOR (total porosity), and the number of nitrite bacteria reduced by planting at the same time. Except for YM, other treatments significantly increased the number of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria compared with CK, while only YK increased that of fungi. Additionally, all plants increased the activity of nitrite reductase and decreased that of urease. More interestingly, plants treatments shifted microbial community compositions, and only YM significantly decreased the bacterial diversity and increased the fungal diversity. Redundancy analysis suggested that TK, pH, BD, TS, AN, OM and nitrite reductase, lignin peroxidase were the key environmental factors that shaped the bacterial community structure, while that of fungi was mainly driven by OM, nitrite reductase, urease and lignin peroxidase. The results indicated that MX and YM are the best choice for remediation of saline-alkali soil. These data can provide certain theoretical basis for the further restoration of saline-alkali land.HIGHLIGHTSThe effects of different phytoremediation on microbial diversity and community structure were different.Phytoremediation can significantly decreased pH, TS and BD, while increased OM, TN, AN, TP, AP, TK and TPOR in saline-alkali soil.All plants increased the activity of nitrite reductase and decreased the activity of urease.

Algal density affects the influences of polyethylene microplastics on the freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus

Most previous researches focused on the toxicity of polystyrene microplastics (MPs) to marine organisms, but less on polyethylene MPs and freshwater zooplanktons. The present study aims to elucidate the toxicity of polyethylene (PE) MPs (diameter = 10-22 μm) to the typical freshwater rotifer Brachionus calyciflorus. Firstly, fluorescent microscope observation showed that rotifers could ingest PE MPs and accumulate them in their digestive tracts. Life-table experiments revealed that exposure to 0.5 × 10³, 2.5 × 10³, and 1.25 × 10⁴ particles/mL PE MPs significantly reduced net reproductive rate and intrinsic rate of pollution increase of rotifers under algal densities (Scenedesmus obliquus) of 0.1 × 10⁶, and 0.5 × 10⁶ cells/mL, but no significant effects were observed under 2.5 × 10⁶ cells/mL algal density. These results showed that PE MPs suppressed the reproduction of rotifer and this negative effect could be alleviated by increasing food supply. The swimming linear speed of rotifers significantly decreased with increasing MP concentrations. The activities of superoxide dismutase and Na⁺-K⁺-ATPase significantly decreased in treatments with high concentration of PE MPs under 0.1 × 10⁶ cells/mL algal density, but did not change significantly in MP treatments under 0.5 × 10⁶ and 2.5 × 10⁶ cells/mL, compared to the control. Glutathione peroxidase activity significantly increased in treatments with 1.25 × 10⁴ particles/mL and 2.5 × 10³ particles/mL under 0.1 × 10⁶ and 0.5 × 10⁶ cells/mL algal density, respectively, but did not change significantly in all MP treatments under 2.5 × 10⁶ cells/mL. Exposure to PE MPs might lower the gathering capacity of algae, induce oxidative stress, trigger cell membrane damages and disturb energy metabolism in rotifers, which can explain the PE MPs toxicity to rotifer reproduction.

Evolution and Stress Responses of CLO Genes and Potential Function of the GhCLO06 Gene in Salt Resistance of Cotton

The caleosin (CLO) protein family displays calcium-binding properties and plays an important role in the abiotic stress response. Here, a total of 107 CLO genes were identified in 15 plant species, while no CLO genes were detected in two green algal species. Evolutionary analysis revealed that the CLO gene family may have evolved mainly in terrestrial plants and that biological functional differentiation between species and functional expansion within species have occurred. Of these, 56 CLO genes were identified in four cotton species. Collinearity analysis showed that CLO gene family expansion mainly occurred through segmental duplication and whole-genome duplication in cotton. Sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis showed that the CLO proteins of the four cotton species were mainly divided into two types: H-caleosins (class I) and L-caleosins (class II). Cis-acting element analysis and quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) suggested that GhCLOs might be regulated by abscisic acid (ABA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA). Moreover, transcriptome data and qRT-PCR results revealed that GhCLO genes responded to salt and drought stresses. Under salt stress, gene-silenced plants (TRV: GhCLO06) showed obvious yellowing and wilting, higher malondialdehyde (MDA) content accumulation, and significantly lower activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD), indicating that GhCLO06 plays a positive regulatory role in cotton salt tolerance. In gene-silenced plants (TRV: GhCLO06), ABA-related genes (GhABF2, GhABI5, and GhNAC4) were significantly upregulated after salt stress, suggesting that the regulation of salt tolerance may be related to the ABA signaling pathway. This research provides an important reference for further understanding and analyzing the molecular regulatory mechanism of CLOs for salt tolerance.