Mengyu Liu

Arabidopsis EIN2 modulates stress response through abscisic acid response pathway

The nuclear protein ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE2 (EIN2) is a central component of the ethylene signal transduction pathway in plants, and plays an important role in mediating cross-links between several hormone response pathways, including abscisic acid (ABA). ABA mediates stress responses in plants, but there is no report on the role of EIN2 on plant response to salt and osmotic stresses. Here, we show that EIN2 gene regulates plant response to osmotic and salt stress through an ABA-dependent pathway in Arabidopsis. The expression of the EIN2 gene is down-regulated by salt and osmotic stress. An Arabidopsis EIN2 null mutant was supersensitive to both salt and osmotic stress conditions. Disruption of EIN2 specifically altered the expression pattern of stress marker gene RD29B in response to the stresses, but not the stress- or ABA-responsive genes RD29A and RD22, suggesting EIN2 modulates plant stress responses through the RD29B branch of the ABA response. Furthermore, disruption of EIN2 caused substantial increase in ABA. Lastly, our data showed that mutations of other key genes in ethylene pathway also had altered sensitivity to abiotic stresses, indicating that the intact ethylene may involve in the stress response. Taken together, the results identified EIN2 as a cross-link node in ethylene, ABA and stress signaling pathways, and EIN2 is necessary to induce developmental arrest during seed germination, and seedling establishment, as well as subsequent vegetative growth, thereby allowing the survival and growth of plants under the adverse environmental conditions.

Salt Modulates Gravity Signaling Pathway to Regulate Growth Direction of Primary Roots in Arabidopsis

Plant root architecture is highly plastic during development and can adapt to many environmental stresses. The proper distribution of roots within the soil under various conditions such as salinity, water deficit, and nutrient deficiency greatly affects plant survival. Salinity profoundly affects the root system architecture of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). However, despite the inhibitory effects of salinity on root length and the number of roots, very little is known concerning influence of salinity on root growth direction and the underlying mechanisms. Here we show that salt modulates root growth direction by reducing the gravity response. Exposure to salt stress causes rapid degradation of amyloplasts in root columella cells of Arabidopsis. The altered root growth direction in response to salt was found to be correlated with PIN-FORMED2 (PIN2) messenger RNA abundance and expression and localization of the protein. Furthermore, responsiveness to gravity of salt overly sensitive (sos) mutants is substantially reduced, indicating that salt-induced altered gravitropism of root growth is mediated by ion disequilibrium. Mutation of SOS genes also leads to reduced amyloplast degradation in root tip columella cells and the defects in PIN2 gene expression in response to salt stress. These results indicate that the SOS pathway may mediate the decrease of PIN2 messenger RNA in salinity-induced modification of gravitropic response in Arabidopsis roots. Our findings provide new insights into the development of a root system necessary for plant adaptation to high salinity and implicate an important role of the SOS signaling pathway in this process.

Effects of deficit irrigation on yield and water use of greenhouse grown cucumber in the North China Plain

This study examines deficit irrigation on greenhouse grown cucumber in the North China Plain (NCP). The level of fulfillment of water requirements was used as a gauge to differentiate five border irrigation treatments. Fresh fruit yields were highly influenced by the total volume of irrigation water at every growth stage. The treatment with minimum irrigation water applied had the lowest productions. The mathematical functions that better fit for the production obtained with the water volume received were linearism, but the functions of evapotranspiration (ET) and yield were second-degree polynomials. The water use efficiency (WUE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) decreased with the increase of irrigation water applied from stem fruiting to the end, significantly since harvest of zenith fruits. But WUE and IWUE were ascending with the increase of irrigation water from cucumber field setting to first fruit ripening. Well irrigation along the whole cycle was a clearly advisable irrigation regime. On the other hand, the least advisable regimes were those that lead to deficiencies from harvest of the first fruit to the zenith fruits. But we strongly recommend actions be taken to limit the inefficient soil evaporation that resulted from higher temperature at the last growth stages in order to improve WUE and IWUE.

Effects of Irrigation and Straw Mulching on Microclimate Characteristics and Water Use Efficiency of Winter Wheat in North China

Abstract In North China, irrigation is required to obtain a high yield from winter wheat; this results in rapid aquifer depletion. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the influencing mechanisms of irrigation and straw mulching in preserving the soil moisture. Maize straw (3−5 cm) was mulched immediately after sowing winter wheat, and irrigation water was supplied at 60 mm, controlled by using a flow meter, during the jointing, heading, or milking stages of the crop. The results revealed that irrigation decreased the eddy thermal diffusivity, sensible heat flux, and soil heat flux, but increased the latent heat flux. In contrast, straw mulching enhanced the eddy thermal diffusivity and sensible heat flux, but decreased the latent heat flux. Straw mulching increased the soil temperature at 5 cm depth form January to February, but decreased the soil temperature before January and after February. There were no significant differences in the total evapotranspiration between mulched and non-mulched treatments, however, there was a statistically significant difference in the evapotranspiration among the different growing seasons. Straw mulching reduced the evapotranspiration from the seeding stage to the regrowing stage, and the evapotranspiration with mulching was less than that non-mulching 47.4 mm. Further, straw mulching significantly reduced the number of spikes in the crop. Both irrigation and straw mulching increased the number of kernels, but had no visible effects on the thousand kernel weight. These results indicate that straw mulching may decrease the yield and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat in North China.

The Wheat GT Factor TaGT2L1D Negatively Regulates Drought Tolerance and Plant Development

GT factors are trihelix transcription factors that specifically regulate plant development and stress responses. Recently, several GT factors have been characterized in different plant species; however, little is known about the role of GT factors in wheat. Here, we show that TaGT2L1A, TaGT2L1B, and TaGT2L1D are highly homologous in hexaploid wheat, and are localized to wheat chromosomes 2A, 2B, and 2D, respectively. These TaGT2L1 genes encode proteins containing two SANT domains and one central helix. All three homologs were ubiquitously expressed during wheat development and were responsive to osmotic stress. Functional analyses demonstrated that TaGT2L1D acts as a transcriptional repressor; it was able to suppress the expression of AtSDD1 in Arabidopsis by binding directly to the GT3 box in its promoter that negatively regulates drought tolerance. TaGT2L1D overexpression markedly increased the number of stomata and reduced drought tolerance in gtl1-3 plants. Notably, ectopic expression of TaGT2L1D also affected floral organ development and overall plant growth. These results demonstrate that TaGT2L1 is an ortholog of AtGTL1, and that it plays an evolutionarily conserved role in drought resistance by fine tuning stomatal density in wheat. Our data also highlight the role of TaGT2L1 in plant growth and development.

Comparison of the effects of symmetric and asymmetric temperature elevation and CO2 enrichment on yield and evapotranspiration of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Under the changing climate, asymmetric warming pattern would be more likely during day and night time, instead of symmetric one. Concurrently, the growth responses and water use of plants may be different compared with those estimated based on symmetric warming. In this work, it was compared with the effects of symmetric (ETs) and asymmetric (ETa) elevation of temperature alone, and in interaction with elevated carbon dioxide concentration (EC), on the grain yield (GY) and evapotranspiration in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) based on pot experiment in the North China Plain (NCP). The experiment was carried out in six enclosed-top chambers with following climate treatments: (1) ambient temperature and ambient CO2 (CON), (2) ambient temperature and elevated CO2 (EC), (3) elevated temperature and ambient CO2 (ETs; ETa), and (4) elevated temperature and elevated CO2 (ECETs, ECETa). In symmetric warming, temperature was increased by 3°C and in asymmetric one by 3.5°C during night and 2.5°C during daytime, respectively. As a result, GY was in ETa and ETs 15.6 (P < 0.05) and 10.3% (P < 0.05) lower than that in CON. In ECETs and ECETa treatments, GY was 14.9 (P < 0.05) and 9.1% (P < 0.05) higher than that in CON. Opposite to GY, evapotranspiration was 7.8 (P < 0.05) and 17.9% (P < 0.05) higher in ETa and ETs treatments and 7.2 (P < 0.05) and 2.1% (P > 0.05) lower in ECETs and ECETa treatments compared with CON. Thus, GY of wheat could be expected to increase under the changing climate with concurrent elevation of CO2 and temperature as a result of increased WUE under the elevated CO2. However, the gain would be lower under ETa than that estimated based on ETs due to higher evapotranspiration.

Effects of Drought Stress on Pollen Sterility, Grain Yield, Abscisic Acid and Protective Enzymes in Two Winter Wheat Cultivars

Drought stress induced pollen sterility is a detrimental factor reducing grain number in wheat. Exploring the mechanisms underlying pollen fertility under drought conditions could assist breeding high-yielding wheat cultivars with stress tolerance. Here, by using two Chinese wheat cultivars subjected to different levels of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced drought stress, possible links between pollen fertility and stress tolerance were analyzed under different levels of drought stress at the young microspore stage. In both cultivars, higher grain number reduction was observed under condition of lower water availability. Overall, the drought tolerant cultivar (Jinmai47) exhibited less grain number reduction than the drought sensitive cultivar (Shiluan02-1) under all stress conditions. Compared with Shiluan02-1, Jinmai47 exhibited superior physiological performance in terms of leaf photosynthetic rate, ear carbohydrate accumulation, pollen sink strength, pollen development and fertility under stress. Moreover, Jinmai47 showed a lower increase in endogenous abscisic acid in ears than Shiluan02-1. Furthermore, higher levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities were also found in the drought tolerant cultivar Jinmai47 under PEG stress, compared with the drought sensitive cultivar Shiluan02-1. Changes in these physiological traits could contribute to better pollen development and male fertility, ultimately leading to the maintenance of grain number under drought stress.

Effect of water stress on leaf level gas exchange capacity and water-use efficiency of wheat cultivars

Water stress constitutes one of the most important environmental constraints limiting wheat productivity worldwide. In an open pot experiments six spring wheat cultivars, viz., Barigom-23, Barigom-24, Barigom-25, Barigom-26, Barigom-27, and Barigom-28 were grown under control and water stress conditions to evaluate their genetic variations for gas exchange parameters and water-use efficiency. Results showed that genotypic variations for the gas exchange parameters and water-use efficiency were very prominent among wheat cultivars under control and water stress conditions. Water stress adversely affected net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, internal CO2 concentration, transpiration rate, carboxylation efficiency, instantaneous and intrinsic water-use efficiencies compared to control condition. Wheat cultivars Barigom-23 showed best performances for most of the characters. Cultivars Barigom-26 and Barigom-27 showed medium performances, whereas Barigom-24 showed lowest performance for most of the characters under water stress condition. A clear significant positive linear relationship was observed between net photosynthesis and stomatal conductance which indicated that increase in stomatal conductance improves net photosynthesis.