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Rhizobia-inoculation enhances the soybean’s tolerance to salt stress

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Abstract

Background and aims

Our recent research revealed that several key enzymes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis played vital roles in soybean’s tolerance to salinity. Since the flavonoids also act as important signals mediating the establishment of symbiosis between rhizobium and leguminous plants, the Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 was tested to find out whether it had any impact on soybean’s tolerance to salt stress.

Methods

The roots of soybean seedling (Glycine max cultivar Union85140) were inoculated by soak in diluted S. meliloti 1021 suspension and then the seedlings were transferred in sphagnum peat and pearlite soil. Five days after inoculation, the seedlings were treated with salt solutions every four days until harvest.

Results

Soybean seedlings inoculated with S. meliloti 1021 demonstrated significantly stronger lodging-resistance and the fresh weight of the whole plants increased by 10.95–30.95 % compared with that of the non-inoculated plants. These changes in soybean seedlings might be resulted from: 1. S. meliloti 1021 playing a role in helping soybean plant to exclude Na+ while absorb K+, reducing ionic stress caused by salts; 2. S. meliloti 1021 enhancing the antioxidant enzymes' activities on reducing oxidative stress caused by salts; 3. S. meliloti 1021 increasing the content of osmotic compounds, thus reducing osmotic stress caused by salts. In addition, S. meliloti 1021 played significant roles in regulating the transcription of several key enzymes related to flavonoids metabolism (cytochrome P450 monooxygenase, chalcone synthase and chalcone isomerase), ROS scavenging (catalases, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione S-transferase and superoxide dismutase), and other salt-responsive genes (Stress-induced protein SAM22, PR10-like protein and Phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C) in soybean seedlings.

Conclusion

These results showed that S. meliloti 1021 significantly enhanced soybean’s ability to adapt to saline soil, mostly due to its effect on flavonoids metabolism in plants.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by grants 31301053 and U1130304 from the National Science Foundation of China, and grant PF14002004014 from Hangzhou Normal University. We are grateful to Mr. Tao Sun. (Hangzhou Normal University) for his kind assistance during the RT-PCR analysis. We extend special thanks to Prof. Liqun Du (Hangzhou Normal University) for manuscript revision.

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  1. College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, 310036, People’s Republic of China

    Liqun Qu, Yingying Huang, Chengmin Zhu, Houqing Zeng, Chenjia Shen, Cong Liu, Ying Zhao & Erxu Pi

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  1. Liqun Qu
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  8. Erxu Pi
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Correspondence to Erxu Pi.

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Responsible Editor: Frans J.M Maathuis.

Liqun Qu and Yingying Huang contributed equally to this work.

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Qu, L., Huang, Y., Zhu, C. et al. Rhizobia-inoculation enhances the soybean’s tolerance to salt stress. Plant Soil 400, 209–222 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2728-6

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