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Physiological and molecular responses of Betula platyphylla Suk to salt stress

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Abstract

Key message

Our study found that birch employs different physiological pathways to tolerance salt stress in roots and leaves, and the genes closely correlated with these physiological changes were identified.

Abstract

Birches are fast-growing woody plants that are adapted to adverse environments, and are widely distributed from north Europe to northeast Asia. However, the salt stress tolerance mechanism of birch has little been studied. Here, we investigated the physiological and molecular response of white birch (Betula Platyphylla) to salt stress. Long-term salt stress inhibited photosynthetic activity, and decreased stomatal conductance of birch. Abscisic acid was induced in birch during the early salt stress period, and Ca2+ level was increased slowly but maintained at a higher level for a long time. Under salt conditions, the salt-overly-sensitive pathway was activated in birch roots; reactive oxygen species (ROS) was highly accumulated, and superoxide dismutase is the main ROS scavenger in roots, while peroxidase is the main ROS scavenger in leaves. Proline plays a role in salt tolerance in both roots and leaves; however, soluble sugars and trehalose also have roles in salt stress tolerance, but mainly in leaves. Additionally, the genes that might have essential roles in controlling some of these physiological changes were identified, which represent good candidate genes to characterize the salt tolerance mechanism of birch. This study increased our understanding of the salt tolerance mechanism of birch plants.

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Abbreviations

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

POD:

Peroxidase

DAB:

3,3′-Diaminobenzidine

NBT:

Nitroblue tetrazolium

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

H2O2 :

Hydrogen Peroxide

TBA:

Thiobarbituric acid

Pn:

Net photosynthetic rate

Tr:

Transpiration rate

Gs:

Stomatal conductance

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

qRT-PCR:

Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction

P5CS:

Delta1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase

CaM:

Calmodulin

SOS:

Salt-overly-sensitive

NHX:

Na+/H+ antiporter

ABA:

Abscisic acid

TPS:

Trehalose-6-phosphate synthase

TPP:

Trehalose-phosphate phosphatase

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Project of the culture of the young scientists in scientific innovation in Xinjiang Province (2013711001).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Biogeography and Bioresource in Arid Land, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 830011, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China

    Meiheriguli Mijiti & Yucheng Wang

  2. State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Northeast Forestry University, 150040, Harbin, Heilongjiang, China

    Yiming Zhang & Chunrui Zhang

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  1. Meiheriguli Mijiti
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  2. Yiming Zhang
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  3. Chunrui Zhang
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  4. Yucheng Wang
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Correspondence to Yucheng Wang.

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Communicated by S. Chen.

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Mijiti, M., Zhang, Y., Zhang, C. et al. Physiological and molecular responses of Betula platyphylla Suk to salt stress. Trees 31, 1653–1665 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-017-1576-9

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