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Genetic Insights into Stress Resilience via Enhancing Salinity Adaptation in Barley

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Abstract

Salinity stress is one of the major abiotic stresses that significantly impacts plant growth and performance. Therefore, this study investigated the role of foliar-applied ascorbic acid (AsA) at a concentration of 2 mM as a mitigative approach to salt stress in barley during its vegetative stage. The research aimed to elucidate the genetic responses induced by AsA that potentially confer enhanced tolerance to salinity. A controlled environment experiment was conducted, wherein barley plants were subjected to salt stress and treated with a foliar application of AsA. Natural phenotypic variation showed an increment for all agronomical traits after the foliar application of AsA compared to saline environment (control). Highly significant markers were detected by using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) that are associated with all of the studied traits, underscoring the protective role of AsA under salt stress. Furthermore, the study identified several novel stress-responsive genes influenced by AsA treatment, pointing to complex genetic networks underlying salt stress mitigation. For instance, the gene HORVU.MOREX.r3.2HG0199440 at position (622,219,977–622,220,459 bp) on 2H, which is annotated as V-type ATP synthase beta chain, helps to maintain cellular redox balance during stress conditions. This research paves the way for future work on the practical applications of AsA in agriculture, especially in breeding programs aimed at enhancing salt stress tolerance in barley and similar cereals.

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Acknowledgements

The author (KMA) would like to acknowledge Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R402), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Funding

This study is supported by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R402), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrah University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Fayoum University, Fayoum, 63514, Egypt

    Samar G. Thabet

  2. Department of Biology, College of Science, Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), 11623, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    Amr Elkelish

  3. Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, 41522, Egypt

    Amr Elkelish

  4. Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia

    Khairiah Mubarak Alwutayed

  5. Biological Science Program, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, College of Art and Science, Doha, Qatar

    Ahmad M. Alqudah

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  1. Samar G. Thabet
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  2. Amr Elkelish
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  3. Khairiah Mubarak Alwutayed
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  4. Ahmad M. Alqudah
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Contributions

SGT conceived the idea and designed the experiments. SGT performed the experiments, SGT, AE, KMA, and AMA analyzed the data, and all authors contributed to writing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Samar G. Thabet or Ahmad M. Alqudah.

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Thabet, S.G., Elkelish, A., Alwutayed, K.M. et al. Genetic Insights into Stress Resilience via Enhancing Salinity Adaptation in Barley. Plant Mol Biol Rep (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11105-024-01450-9

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