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Singer SD, Lehmann M, Zhang Z, Subedi U, Burton Hughes K, Lim NZL, Ortega Polo R, Chen G, Acharya S, Hannoufa A, Huan T. Elucidation of Physiological, Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Salinity Response Mechanisms in Medicago sativa. Plants (Basel) 2023; 12:2059. [PMID: 37653976 PMCID: PMC10221938 DOI: 10.3390/plants12102059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 05/15/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a widely grown perennial leguminous forage crop with a number of positive attributes. However, despite its moderate ability to tolerate saline soils, which are increasing in prevalence worldwide, it suffers considerable yield declines under these growth conditions. While a general framework of the cascade of events involved in plant salinity response has been unraveled in recent years, many gaps remain in our understanding of the precise molecular mechanisms involved in this process, particularly in non-model yet economically important species such as alfalfa. Therefore, as a means of further elucidating salinity response mechanisms in this species, we carried out in-depth physiological assessments of M. sativa cv. Beaver, as well as transcriptomic and untargeted metabolomic evaluations of leaf tissues, following extended exposure to salinity (grown for 3-4 weeks under saline treatment) and control conditions. In addition to the substantial growth and photosynthetic reductions observed under salinity treatment, we identified 1233 significant differentially expressed genes between growth conditions, as well as 60 annotated differentially accumulated metabolites. Taken together, our results suggest that changes to cell membranes and walls, cuticular and/or epicuticular waxes, osmoprotectant levels, antioxidant-related metabolic pathways, and the expression of genes encoding ion transporters, protective proteins, and transcription factors are likely involved in alfalfa's salinity response process. Although some of these alterations may contribute to alfalfa's modest salinity resilience, it is feasible that several may be disadvantageous in this context and could therefore provide valuable targets for the further improvement of tolerance to this stress in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacy D. Singer
- Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
| | - Madeline Lehmann
- Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada
| | - Zixuan Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
| | - Udaya Subedi
- Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada
| | - Kimberley Burton Hughes
- Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
| | - Nathaniel Z.-L. Lim
- Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
| | - Rodrigo Ortega Polo
- Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
| | - Guanqun Chen
- Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2P5, Canada
| | - Surya Acharya
- Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
| | - Abdelali Hannoufa
- London Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, London, ON N5V 4T3, Canada
| | - Tao Huan
- Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1, Canada
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Wu H, Hill CB, Stefano G, Bose J. Editorial: New Insights Into Salinity Sensing, Signaling and Adaptation in Plants. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:604139. [PMID: 33732268 PMCID: PMC7957063 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.604139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Honghong Wu
- Ministry of Agriculture Key Laboratory of Crop Ecophysiology and Farming System in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, College of Plant Science & Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China
- College of Agronomy and Biotechnology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
- *Correspondence: Honghong Wu
| | - Camilla Beate Hill
- Western Crop Genetics Alliance, Agricultural Sciences, College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Giovanni Stefano
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, United States
| | - Jayakumar Bose
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
- Jayakumar Bose
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