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Root-applied brassinolide can alleviate the NaCl injuries on cotton

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Abstract

Brassinolide (BL) is a plant growth regulator. This study analyzes the effects of BL on cotton growth, Na+ accumulation, proline content, MDA content, antioxidant enzyme activities, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) of cotton roots under NaCl stress. We grew two cotton cultivars, Sumian 12 (salt sensitive) and Sumian 22 (salt tolerant), in continuously aerated Hoagland’s nutrient solution supplemented with 200 mM NaCl. NaCl stress increased the Na+, proline, and MDA content and decreased root activity and protein content in the roots of Sumian 12 and 22, and the change rang of Sumian 12 was higher than that of Sumian 22. The application of BL counteracted the NaCl stress-induced growth inhibition in the two tested cotton cultivars. It reduced the accumulation of Na+, enhanced proline content, and resulted in an overall change in the activities of antioxidant enzymes causing a decrease in the MDA content of NaCl-stressed roots, and the influence of BL on salt-stressed Sumian 12 plants was more pronounced than that on Sumian 22. The digital gene expression analysis in Sumian 12 indicated that BL application significantly influenced the gene expression in NaCl-stressed roots. The majority of 7659 (3661 up-regulated/3998 down-regulated) DEGs of NaCl/CK in roots of Sumian 12 were regulated by BL, and the gene expression pattern as a result of the root-applied BL on NaCl-stressed cotton treatment (BL + NaCl) was similar to the control. Our results indicate that the root-applied brassinolide alleviates NaCl stress on cotton through improving root activity, physiology, and gene expression.

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Abbreviations

BL:

Brassinolide

BRs:

Brassinosteroids

DEGs:

Differentially expressed genes

MDA:

Malondialdehyde

SOD:

Superoxide dismutase

CAT:

Catalase

POD:

Peroxidase

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31201139), National R&D Project of Transgenic Crops of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2011ZX08005-001), and Jiangsu Agricultural science and technology innovation funds (CX (13) 5011).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Cotton and Rapeseed (Nanjing), Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Industrial Crops, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, 210014, People’s Republic of China

    Hongmei Shu, Wanchao Ni, Shuqiao Guo, Yuanyong Gong, Xinlian Shen, Xianggui Zhang, Peng Xu & Qi Guo

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  1. Hongmei Shu
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  2. Wanchao Ni
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  3. Shuqiao Guo
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  4. Yuanyong Gong
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  5. Xinlian Shen
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  6. Xianggui Zhang
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  7. Peng Xu
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  8. Qi Guo
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Correspondence to Wanchao Ni.

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Communicated by R. Aroca.

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Shu, H., Ni, W., Guo, S. et al. Root-applied brassinolide can alleviate the NaCl injuries on cotton. Acta Physiol Plant 37, 75 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-015-1823-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-015-1823-x

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