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Primary responses to salt stress in a halophyte, smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel.)

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Abstract

The response of a grass halophyte Spartina alterniflora at early stages of salt stress was investigated through generation and systematic analysis of expressed sequence tags (ESTs) from both leaf and root tissues. Random EST sequencing produced 1,227 quality ESTs, which were clustered into 127 contigs, and 368 were singletons. Of the 495 unigenes, 27% represented genes for stress response. Comparison of the 368 singletons against the Oryza sativa gene index showed that >85% of these genes had similarity with the rice unigenes. Moreover, the phylogenetic analysis of an EST similar to myo-inositol 1-phosphate synthase of Spartina and some selected grasses and halophytes showed closeness of Spartina with maize and rice. Transcript abundance analysis involving eight known genes of various metabolic pathways and nine transcription factor genes showed temporal and tissue-dependent variation in expression under salinity. Reverse northern analysis of a few selected unknown and ribosomal genes exhibited much higher abundance of transcripts in response to salt stress. The results provide evidence that, in addition to several unknown genes discovered in this study, genes involved in ion transport, osmolyte production, and house-keeping functions may play an important role in the primary responses to salt stress in this grass halophyte.

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank Dr. M. A. Cohn and Dr. M. S. Kang for reviewing the manuscript before submission. The financial support for this study from the USDA–CSREES is gratefully acknowledged. This manuscript is approved for publication by the Director of Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station as manuscript number 07-14-0423.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, 104 Sturgis Hall, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA

    Niranjan Baisakh & Prasanta K. Subudhi

  2. Department of Bioinformatics, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Allahabad, 211012, India

    Pritish Varadwaj

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  1. Niranjan Baisakh
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  2. Prasanta K. Subudhi
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Correspondence to Prasanta K. Subudhi.

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Baisakh, N., Subudhi, P.K. & Varadwaj, P. Primary responses to salt stress in a halophyte, smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel.). Funct Integr Genomics 8, 287–300 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10142-008-0075-x

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