Comparative metabolic responses and adaptive strategies of wheat (Triticum aestivum) to salt and alkali stress

BMC Plant Biology

Research Article

Haoru Li¹  Qi Liu¹  Xiuli Zhong¹  Feng Li¹  Xu Xia¹  Changrong Yan¹  Rui Guo¹  Long Zhao²  Zongze Yang² 

[1] Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture (IEDA), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS)/Key Laboratory of Dryland Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture, 100081, Beijing, P.R. China;Key laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of Ministry of Education (MOE), Northeast Normal University, 130024, Changchun, China;

关键词: Wheat;    Salt stress;    Alkali stress;    Growth;    Photosynthesis;    Metal elements;    Free ions;    Metabolites;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12870-015-0546-x

 received in 2015-05-11, accepted in 2015-06-10,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIt is well known that salinization (high-pH) has been considered as a major environmental threat to agricultural systems. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences between salt stress and alkali stress in metabolic profiles and nutrient accumulation of wheat; these parameters were also evaluated to determine the physiological adaptive mechanisms by which wheat tolerates alkali stress.ResultsThe harmful effect of alkali stress on the growth and photosynthesis of wheat were stronger than those of salt stress. High-pH of alkali stress induced the most of phosphate and metal ions to precipitate; as a result, the availability of nutrients significantly declined. Under alkali stress, Ca sharply increased in roots, however, it decreased under salt stress. In addition, we detected the 75 metabolites that were different among the treatments according to GC-MS analysis, including organic acids, amino acids, sugars/polyols and others. The metabolic data showed salt stress and alkali stress caused different metabolic shifts; alkali stress has a stronger injurious effect on the distribution and accumulation of metabolites than salt stress. These outcomes correspond to specific detrimental effects of a highly pH environment.ConclusionsCa had a significant positive correlation with alkali tolerates, and increasing Ca concentration can immediately trigger SOS Na exclusion system and reduce the Na injury. Salt stress caused metabolic shifts toward gluconeogenesis with increased sugars to avoid osmotic stress; energy in roots and active synthesis in leaves were needed by wheat to develop salt tolerance. Alkali stress (at high pH) significantly inhibited photosynthetic rate; thus, sugar production was reduced, N metabolism was limited, amino acid production was reduced, and glycolysis was inhibited.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Guo et al. 2015