Photosynthetic behaviour of Arabidopsis thaliana (Pa-1 accession) under salt stress

The growth reduction observed in many plants caused by salinity is often associated with a decrease in their photosynthetic capacity. This effect could be associated with the partial stomatal closure and/or the non-stomatal limitation which involves the decrease in ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RUBISCO) activity. The objective of this study was to explore the mechanisms of inhibited photosynthesis in Arabidopsis thaliana (Pa-1 accession) under salt stress. Pa-1 seeds grown on a solid substrate for 25 days on standard medium were challenged with 50 mM NaCl for 15 days. Harvests were carried out every five days by separating the rosette leaves and roots. Salt stress reduced growth by limiting the number of the rosette leaves and not their biomass. Accumulation of Na+ and Cl- increased during the treatment period, whereas K+ and Ca2+ accumulation were reduced in salt treatment. RUBISCO and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) activities were increased with the age of the leaves to a maximum after 10 days of treatment then later decreased. We concluded that the sensitivity of Pa-1 to salinity may be due to a reduction in number of leaves, in the photosynthetic assimilation with stomatal closure and damage of the RUBISCO and PEPC activities.Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana, photosynthetic parameters, salinity, ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase oxygenase (RUBISCO), phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC).African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(29), pp. 4594-460

Combined effect of hormonal priming and salt treatments on germination percentage and antioxidant activities in lettuce seedlings

Hormonal priming is a pre-sowing treatment that improves seed germination performance and stress tolerance. To understand the physiology of hormonal priming and its association with post priming stress tolerance, we investigated the effect of hormonal priming with increasing gibberellic acid (GA3) concentrations (0, 3, 4.5 and 6 mM) on seedling growth and antioxidant system in lettuce. Germination percentage was higher in lettuce seedlings derived from primed seeds. Radicle and hypocotyl length and dry weight were reduced by salt treatment to a greater extent in non-primed than in primed seeds. Hormonal priming with 4.5 mM GA3 induced the most dramatic decreases in electrolyte leakage (EL) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. NaCl increased catalase (CAT) activity in primed and non-primed seeds. The total ascorbate level remained constant in both primed and non-primed seeds under NaCl constraint. These results suggest that hormonal priming might have increased the salt tolerance of lettuce seeds through enhancing the activities of antioxidant enzymes and reducing the membrane damage as estimated using EL and MDA biomarkers.Key words: Ascorbate, germination, hormonal priming, lettuce, salinity

Long-term effects of mild salt stress on growth, ion accumulation and superoxide dismutase expression of Arabidopsis rosette leaves.

Arabidopsis thaliana plants (wild-type accessions Col and N1438) were submitted to a prolonged, mild salt stress using two types of protocols. These protocols allowed salt-treated plants to absorb nutrients either through a part of their root system maintained in control medium (split-rooted plants) or during episodes on control medium alternating with salt application (salt alternation experiment). Full-salt treatments (salt applied continuously to whole root system) resulted in severe (but non-lethal) growth inhibition. This effect was partly alleviated in split-rooted plants on mixed salt–control medium and in plants submitted to salt–control medium alternation. The activity of the various isoforms of superoxide dismutases (SODs) did not appreciably change with the treatments. The abundance of the mRNAs of the seven SOD genes present in Arabidopsis genome was determined using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The two protocols gave qualitatively identical results. The expression level was increased by full-salt treatments for some genes and diminished for other genes. However, the nature of these genes differed according to the accessions: the responses to salt of FSD1 and MSD were opposite in Col and N1438. In Col, salt treatments inhibited the expression of FSD1 and strongly stimulated that of CSD1 andMSD. InN1438, the stimulation by salt concerned FSD1 and CSD1 and MSD expression being inhibited. In both accessions, the expression of CSD2 and CSD3 was lowered by salt. For all genes, the treatments that mitigated stress partially restored SOD expression to control level. Thus, the changes in SOD transcript abundance accurately reflected the severity of the salt stress

Comparative effect of potassium on K and Na uptake and transport in two accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana during salinity stress.

International audiencePotassium-sodium interaction was compared in two natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, Columbia-0 and NOK2. Seedlings were grown in the presence of 0 or 50 mM NaCl and 0.1; 0.625 or 2.5 mM K(+). At the lowest K(+) concentration, salt treatment inhibited both K(+) uptake and growth. Increasing the K(+) availability did not modified salt response in Columbia-0, but restored nearly normal net K(+) uptake in NaCl condition and alleviated NaCl growth reduction in NOK2. The effect of K(+) and NaCl on transcript level of several K(+) and Na(+) transporters in both shoots and roots was assessed using semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The mRNA abundance of the NHX1 and SOS1 Na(+)/H(+) antiporters was significantly increased by 50 mM NaCl in the two accessions. NHX1, which is responsible for Na(+) sequestration into vacuoles, was more up-regulated in NOK2 leaves than in Columbia-0's in NaCl stress condition. AKT1, which is the major channel involved in K(+) absorption, was down-regulated in salt stress condition, but was not responding to K(+) treatments. Only in NOK2, SKOR and AKT2, which respectively control xylem and phloem K(+) transport, were markedly up-regulated by 2.5 mM K(+) in both roots and shoots, independently of NaCl. Phenotypic and gene expression analyses suggest that the relative salt tolerance of NOK2 is mainly due to a high ability to sequester Na(+) in the vacuole and to take up and transport K(+). Up-regulation of SKOR and AKT2 by K(+), and of NHX1 by NaCl could participate in determining this phenotype

Efficiency of biochemical protection against toxic effects of accumulated salt differentiates Thellungiella halophila from Arabidopsis thaliana

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Effect of UV-C Radiation on resistance of romaine lettuce (<em>Lactuca sativa</em> L.) against<em> Botrytis cinerea</em> and <em>Sclerotinia minor</em>

International audienceThe aim of this research was to examine the effect of UV-C on resistance of lettuce to Botrytis cinerea and Sclerotinia minor. Analysis of the lesion surfaces showed that plants exposed to UV-C were less susceptible to the two pathogens, especially on the fourth day after inoculation. Chlorophyll, carotenoid contents and malondialdehyde and hydrogen peroxide were assayed after 1 day and 4 days. Lettuces treated with UV-C and inoculated showed an increase in chlorophyll and carotenoid content, especially 24 h after inoculation, and low values of the two indicators of oxidative stress as compared with lettuces which were inoculated but did not receive UV-C treatment

Effect of salinity on root-nodule conductance to the oxygen diffusion in the Cicer arietinum–Mesorhizobium ciceri symbiosis

Correspondance: [email protected] (B. L'taief)International audienceNodule conductance to 02 diffusion has been involved as a major factor of the inhibition of N-2 fixation by soil salinity that severely reduces the production of grain legumes. In order to determine the effect of this constraint on the nodule conductance, oxygen uptake by the nodulated roots of Cicer arietinum was measured by recording the concentration Of 02 as a function Of pO(2) in a gas-tight incubator. After germination and inoculation with the strain Mesorhizobium ciceri UPMCa7, the varieties Amdoun 1 and INRAT 93-1 were hydroponically grown in a glasshouse on 1 L glass bottles filled with nutrient solution containing 25 mM NaCl Salinity induced a marked decrease in shoot (30% versus 14%), root (43% versus 20%), and nodule biomass (100% versus 43%) for Amdoun 1 relative to INRAT 93-1. Although salinity completely prevented nodule formation in the sensitive variety Amdoun 1, nodule number and biomass were higher in the first than in the second variety in the absence of salt. This effect was associated with a significantly higher 02 uptake by nodulated root (510 versus 255 mu mol O-2 plant(-1) h(-1)) and nodule conductance (20 versus 5 mu m s(-1)) in Amdoun 1 than in INRAT 93-1. Salinity did not significantly change the nodule conductance and nodule permeability for INRAT 93-1. Thus, the salt tolerance of this variety appears to be associated with stability in nodule conductance and the capacity to form nodules under salt constrain

Physiological and molecular characterization of salt response of Arabidopsis thaliana NOK2 ecotype.

International audienceArabidopsis thaliana is a glycophyte capable to tolerate mild salinity. Although salt sensitivity of this species, a variability of this characteristic was revealed between different ecotypes. This study presents the physiological and molecular characteristics of salt response of two ecotypes, NOK2 and Columbia (Col). Seedlings were cultivated in hydroponics in the presence of 0 or 50 mM NaCl during 25 days. Rosette leaf samples were collected after 19, 22, and 25 days for determination of physiological parameters, and after 18 days for study of DNA polymorphism. Salt treatment decreased rosette dry matter, leaf number, leaf hydration, and leaf surface area. All these effects were significantly more visible in Col than in NOK2. Moreover, the NOK2 leaves accumulated less Na+ and more K+ than those of Col. DNA polymorphism between the two ecotypes was analyzed with codominant molecular markers based on PCR amplification, namely, microsatellites, cleaved amplified polymorphism sequence (CAPS), and single nucleotide polymorphism markers (SNP). Among the 35 tested markers, 17 showed a clear polymorphism and were distributed on the five Arabidopsis chromosomes ending with a genetic map construction. These results could play an important role in the future establishment of cartography of candidate gene controlling the K+/Na+ selectivity of ion transport in leaves, a component of plant salt tolerance

Effet des rayonnements UV-C sur la résistance de la laitue Romaine contre Botrytis cinerea.

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