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Agronomy
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Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants
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Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2021) | Viewed by 28375

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Andrew Eamens

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Plant Science, School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Interests: RNA biology; RNA silencing; small RNA biology; microRNAs; environmental stress; molecular breeding; agricultural biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Researchers,

The global population continues to rise at an unprecedented pace and with that comes increasing pressure on agricultural food production. At the same time, a combination of urbanization, industrial expansion, and poor farming practices has decreased the area of land available to cropping agriculture. Furthermore, the once impressive increases in annual global crop yield achieved via germplasm improvement through traditional targeted breeding approaches are hastily approaching the stationary phase of the production curve. To provide modern agriculture solutions to achieve the annual global crop yield required to feed the world’s population in an increasingly complex growth environment, it is incumbent on the plant biology research community to expand our current molecular understanding of crop plant development.

Salt stress is of ever-increasing concern to the continued productivity of modern agriculture and attempts to achieve the annual total crop yield required to ensure that we meet our food security target. Over the last two decades, a tremendous amount of research has been conducted to advance our current understanding of the elegant and highly complex biochemical, physiological, and phenotypical mechanisms employed by crop plant species to mount an adaptive response to growth in a saline environment. This research effort has repeatedly demonstrated that highly complex and interrelated molecular pathways are at play to direct the adaptive responses to salt stress of a crop plant at the biochemical, physiological, or phenotypical level.

This Special Issue of Agronomy, titled “Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants” calls for research findings detailing the complex and interrelated molecular pathways that mediate the adaptive responses of crop plant species to salt stress. Therefore, we warmly welcome the submission of novel research findings, review articles and opinion pieces that detail the molecular pathways utilized by cropping species to adapt to salt stress exposure under the broad, yet related areas of; epigenetics (including chromatin modification and DNA methylation); genetic diversity (including natural variation); alterations to transcription factor expression, and small RNA-directed gene expression regulation (including the gene expression regulation by the microRNA and small-interfering RNA species of small RNA). Reports outlining the use of a transgene-based approach to molecularly manipulate gene expression in cropping species to provide these species with tolerance to salt stress are also welcome for submission to this Special Issue of Agronomy.

Dr. Andrew Eamens
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Salt stress
  • Molecular adaptation
  • Genetic diversity and natural variation
  • Gene expression regulation
  • Transcription factors
  • Epigenetics and DNA methylation
  • microRNAs
  • small-interfering RNAs
  • in planta molecular manipulation

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 7405 KiB  
Article
Systematic Analysis of the bZIP Family in Tobacco and Functional Characterization of NtbZIP62 Involvement in Salt Stress
by Zhiyuan Li, Jiangtao Chao, Xiaoxu Li, Gongbo Li, Dean Song, Yongfeng Guo, Xinru Wu and Guanshan Liu
Agronomy 2021, 11(1), 148; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010148 - 14 Jan 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2227
Abstract
The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors play important regulatory roles, influencing plant growth and responses to environmental stresses. In the present study, 132 bZIP genes identified in the tobacco genome were classified into 11 groups with Arabidopsis and tomato bZIP members, based [...] Read more.
The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) transcription factors play important regulatory roles, influencing plant growth and responses to environmental stresses. In the present study, 132 bZIP genes identified in the tobacco genome were classified into 11 groups with Arabidopsis and tomato bZIP members, based on the results of a phylogenetic analysis. An examination of gene structures and conserved motifs revealed relatively conserved exon/intron structures and motif organization within each group. The results of an investigation of whole-genome duplication events indicated that segmental duplications were crucial for the expansion of the bZIP gene family in tobacco. Expression profiles confirmed that the NtbZIP genes are differentially expressed in various tissues, and several genes are responsive to diverse stresses. Notably, NtbZIP62, which was identified as an AtbZIP37/ABF3 homolog, was highly expressed in response to salinity. Subcellular localization analyses proved that NtbZIP62 is a nuclear protein. Furthermore, the overexpression of NtbZIP62 in tobacco significantly enhanced the salt stress tolerance of the transgenic plants. The results of this study may be relevant for future functional analyses of the bZIP genes in tobacco. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants)
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15 pages, 622 KiB  
Article
Effect of Salinity on Seed Germination and Seedling Development of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) Genotypes
by Ahmad Rajabi Dehnavi, Morteza Zahedi, Agnieszka Ludwiczak, Stefany Cardenas Perez and Agnieszka Piernik
Agronomy 2020, 10(6), 859; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060859 - 17 Jun 2020
Cited by 135 | Viewed by 13759
Abstract
Salinity is one of the most important abiotic stresses that negatively affects plant growth and development around the world. It has been reported that approximately 19.5% of all irrigated land and 2.1% of dry land is affected by salt stress, and these percentages [...] Read more.
Salinity is one of the most important abiotic stresses that negatively affects plant growth and development around the world. It has been reported that approximately 19.5% of all irrigated land and 2.1% of dry land is affected by salt stress, and these percentages continue to increase. Sorghum, a C4 plant, is the fifth most important cereal in the world. Numerous studies reported that there are high genetic variations in sorghum. These genetic variations can be monitored to search for the most salt-tolerant genotypes. Therefore, the aim of our study was to investigate the responses of ten sorghum genotypes to different levels of salinity. We focused on germination and seedling growth as the most critical stages of plant development. In our research we included germination percentage, germination index, mean germination time, seedling vigor index, seedlings’ shoot and root lengths, fresh and dry seedling weight, and salinity tolerance indices. For data assessment we applied two-way ANOVA, non-metric multidimensional scaling, and hierarchical agglomerative classification. Our results demonstrate that salinity was responsible for 98% of the variation in assessed parameters, whereas genotype effect accounted for only 2% of the documented variation. It can be concluded that seedling traits can be used as a valid criterion for the selection of genotypes with a better tolerance to salinity stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants)
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25 pages, 5074 KiB  
Article
Profiling of the Salt Stress Responsive MicroRNA Landscape of C4 Genetic Model Species Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv
by Joseph L. Pegler, Duc Quan Nguyen, Christopher P.L. Grof and Andrew L. Eamens
Agronomy 2020, 10(6), 837; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060837 - 12 Jun 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2870
Abstract
Setaria viridis has recently emerged as an ideal model species to genetically characterize the C4 monocotyledonous grasses via a molecular modification approach. Soil salinization has become a compelling agricultural problem globally with salinity adversely impacting the yield potential of many of the [...] Read more.
Setaria viridis has recently emerged as an ideal model species to genetically characterize the C4 monocotyledonous grasses via a molecular modification approach. Soil salinization has become a compelling agricultural problem globally with salinity adversely impacting the yield potential of many of the major cereals. Small regulatory molecules of RNA, termed microRNAs (miRNAs), were originally demonstrated crucial for developmental gene expression regulation in plants, however, miRNAs have since been shown to additionally command a central regulatory role in abiotic stress adaptation. Therefore, a small RNA sequencing approach was employed to profile the salt stress responsive miRNA landscapes of the shoot and root tissues of two Setaria viridis accessions (A10 and ME034V) amenable to molecular modification. Small RNA sequencing-identified abundance alterations for miRNAs, miR169, miR395, miR396, miR397, miR398 and miR408, were experimentally validated via RT-qPCR. RT-qPCR was further applied to profile the molecular response of the miR160 and miR167 regulatory modules to salt stress. This analysis revealed accession- and tissue-specific responses for the miR160 and miR167 regulatory modules in A10 and ME034V shoot and root tissues exposed to salt stress. The findings reported here form the first crucial step in the identification of the miRNA regulatory modules to target for molecular manipulation to determine if such modification provides S. viridis with an improved tolerance to salt stress. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants)
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24 pages, 3042 KiB  
Article
What is the Difference between the Response of Grass Pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) to Salinity and Drought Stress?—A Physiological Study
by Barbara Tokarz, Tomasz Wójtowicz, Wojciech Makowski, Roman J. Jędrzejczyk and Krzysztof M. Tokarz
Agronomy 2020, 10(6), 833; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10060833 - 12 Jun 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 3746
Abstract
Understanding the mechanisms of plant tolerance to osmotic and chemical stress is fundamental to maintaining high crop productivity. Soil drought often occurs in combination with physiological drought, which causes chemical stress due to high concentrations of ions. Hence, it is often assumed that [...] Read more.
Understanding the mechanisms of plant tolerance to osmotic and chemical stress is fundamental to maintaining high crop productivity. Soil drought often occurs in combination with physiological drought, which causes chemical stress due to high concentrations of ions. Hence, it is often assumed that the acclimatization of plants to salinity and drought follows the same mechanisms. Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.) is a legume plant with extraordinary tolerance to severe drought and moderate salinity. The aim of the presented study was to compare acclimatization strategies of grass pea seedlings to osmotic (PEG) and chemical (NaCl) stress on a physiological level. Concentrations of NaCl and PEG were adjusted to create an osmotic potential of a medium at the level of 0.0, −0.45 and −0.65 MPa. The seedlings on the media with PEG were much smaller than those growing in the presence of NaCl, but had a significantly higher content percentage of dry weight. Moreover, the stressors triggered different accumulation patterns of phenolic compounds, soluble and insoluble sugars, proline and β-N-oxalyl-L-α,β-diamino propionic acid, as well as peroxidase and catalase activity. Our results showed that drought stress induced a resistance mechanism consisting of growth rate limitation in favor of osmotic adjustment, while salinity stress induced primarily the mechanisms of efficient compartmentation of harmful ions in the roots and shoots. Furthermore, our results indicated that grass pea plants differed in their response to drought and salinity from the very beginning of stress occurrence. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants)
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Review

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26 pages, 2535 KiB  
Review
The Emerging Roles of Diacylglycerol Kinase (DGK) in Plant Stress Tolerance, Growth, and Development
by Idrice Carther Kue Foka, Toi Ketehouli, Yonggang Zhou, Xiao-Wei Li, Fa-Wei Wang and Haiyan Li
Agronomy 2020, 10(9), 1375; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10091375 - 12 Sep 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4937
Abstract
Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is recognized as the key enzyme of the lipid signaling pathway, which involves the transduction of messages from hormones, neurotransmitters, and immunologic and growth factors. Regarding their essential role in animal physiology, many plant biologists have predicted a similar enzymatic [...] Read more.
Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is recognized as the key enzyme of the lipid signaling pathway, which involves the transduction of messages from hormones, neurotransmitters, and immunologic and growth factors. Regarding their essential role in animal physiology, many plant biologists have predicted a similar enzymatic influence in plants. However, a small number of recent studies have revealed the complexity of the involvement of DGK genes in the modulation of plant growth, development, and adaptation in both biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Here, we describe recent discoveries on the role of DGK genes in the plants’ responses to biotic or abiotic stressors. Moreover, we discuss how DGK enzymes regulate plant cellular activities during the adaptation of plants to a readily changing environment. DGK is an enzyme that plays a pivotal role in plant lipid signaling, by catalyzing the phosphorylation of the diacylglycerol (DAG) to phosphatidic acid (PA), which is a crucial molecule in a plant’s metabolic network, leading to its response to various external stresses. DGK enzymes are the principal moderators of PA generation in plant cells; this consequently affects its derived products—hence, enabling their activities in lipid signaling networks and cell homeostasis. Thus, understanding the DGK operational mode and interactions between the production and accumulation of PA would constitute a significant advancement in investigating the mechanism of stress adaptation in plants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Responses to Salt Stress in Crop Plants)
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