Furrow sowing could significantly decrease salt damage to wheat; however, the molecular mechanism in wheat is not well known. In this study, a split-root system was used to simulate non-uniform root zone salinity. Our hydroponic experiments showed that wheat seedlings under non-uniform salt stress probably use a salt avoidance strategy to ensure growth. RNA sequencing analysis showed that 1648 and 3245 differentially expressed genes were identified in 0/150 and 75/75 salt treatments, respectively, with an intersection of 690 genes. Gene ontology terms representing normal growth were specifically enriched by upregulated genes in the 0/150 treatment and downregulated genes in the 75/75 treatment, and terms representing phytoremediation were specifically enriched by upregulated genes in the 75/75 treatment and downregulated genes in the 0/150 treatment. Differentially expressed genes that are probably associated with salt stress and transcription factors showed significantly higher expression in the 75/75 treatment than in the 0/150 treatment. These findings suggest that a uniform salt treatment causes wheat to initiate a more complex salt tolerance mechanism for salt stress. In addition, the expression of 11 genes annotated as peroxidase was higher in the 0/150 treatment than in the 75/75 treatment, and the enzyme activity showed the same trend, indicating that peroxidase probably played a role in the better performance of wheat plants under non-uniform salt stress. Pot culture experiments showed that wheat plants under non-uniform salt stress produced higher yields than those under uniform stress, further indicating that inducing unequal salt distribution in soil could significantly improve wheat cultivation.
How to translate text using browser tools
30 September 2020
Non-uniform salt distribution in the root zone alleviates salt damage in wheat
Ximei Li,
Yuan Ji,
Weiwei Guo,
Liping Han,
Yumei Zhang
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
non-uniform salt distribution
RNA-seq
uniform salt distribution
wheat