Zuo Zhiyu

Salt acclimation induced salt tolerance is enhanced by abscisic acid priming in wheat

Wang Z.S., Li X.N., Zhu X.C., Liu S.Q., Song F.B., Liu F.L., Wang Y., Qi X.N., Wang F.H., Zuo Z.Y., Duan P.Z., Yang A.Z., Cai J., Jiang D. (2017): Salt acclimation induced salt tolerance is enhanced by abscisic acid priming in wheat. Plant Soil Environ., 63: 307–314. High salt stress significantly depresses carbon assimilation and plant growth in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Salt acclimation can enhance the tolerance of wheat plants to salt stress. Priming with abscisic acid (1 mmol ABA) was applied during the salt acclimation (30 mmol NaCl) process to investigate its effects on the tolerance of wheat to subsequent salt stress (500 mmol NaCl). The results showed that priming with ABA modulated the leaf ABA concentration to maintain better water status in salt acclimated wheat plants. Also, the ABA priming drove the antioxidant systems to protect photosynthetic electron transport in salt acclimated plants against subsequent salt stress, hence improving the carbon assimilation in wheat. It suggested that salt acclimation induced salt tolerance could be improved by abscisic acid priming in wheat.

Responses of barley Albina and Xantha mutants deficient in magnesium chelatase to soil salinity

Zuo Z.Y., Li X.N., Xu C., Yang J.J., Zhu X.C., Liu S.Q., Song F.B., Liu F.L., Mao H.P. (2017): Responses of barley Albina and Xantha mutants deficient in magnesium chelatase to soil salinity. Plant Soil Environ., 63. Soil salinity reduces the plant growth and grain yield in barley. The barley mutants Albina and Xantha, deficient in magnesium chelatase, represent a suitable model object for analysis of the roles of chloroplast in salt stress response. Spring barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Svalofs Bonus) and four nonallelic Albina (alb-e16 and alb-f17) and Xantha (xan-s46 and xan-b12) mutants were used to investigate the effects of soil salinity on physiological traits of plants. Under salt stress, larger reduction in stomatal conductance and higher Na concentration was found in Albina and Xantha mutants compared with wild type (WT). In addition, the Albina and Xantha mutants had lower capacity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging while higher ROS generation rate compared with WT, exposed to soil salinity. Therefore, the limitations in chloroplast development affected Na+/K+ homeostasis and decreased the oxygen scavenging capacity, hence affecting the salt tolerance in barley.