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Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Salinity Stress and Tolerance—2nd Edition
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Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Salinity Stress and Tolerance—2nd Edition

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Response to Abiotic Stress and Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2025 | Viewed by 2662

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Lara Donaldson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Observatory, Anzio Road, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
Interests: plant systems biology; plant microbiome; salinity stress; hormone signaling; auxin biosynthesis; second messenger signaling; ion homeostasis and membrane transport; plant-pathogen interactions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Gederts Ievinsh

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Plant Physiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Latvia, 1 Jelgavas Street, LV-1004 Rīga, Latvia
Interests: plant functional diversity; coastal plants; plant interactions; plant adaptations; halophytes; salinity; edaphic factors; nitrophytes; metal tolerance and accumulation; metalophytes; phytoremediation; green walls
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Soils are becoming increasingly saline due to poor farming practices and climate change. The growth and development of most crop plants are inhibited by salinity stress. To sustain food production in more saline soils, we need to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying plant salinity stress tolerance so that we can engineer more resilient crops. Plants have various mechanisms to combat both the initial stress imposed by salt that is independent of sodium accumulation in the shoot (osmotic stress similar to that imposed by other stresses such as drought) and the more delayed ion toxicity stress (that arises from the uptake of Na+ and Cl− and is specific to salinity stress). There is still much that we do not know about how plants perceive, signal, and respond to salinity stress to ultimately adapt their growth and development so that they can survive in saline soils. This Special Issue of Plants will focus on the molecular mechanisms that enable plants to perceive, signal, respond, grow, and ultimately tolerate salinity stress.

Dr. Lara Donaldson
Prof. Dr. Gederts Ievinsh
Guest Editors

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. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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

  • salinity stress
  • ion toxicity
  • ion homeostasis
  • Na+ transport
  • halotropism
  • salt tolerance
  • saline

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 3920 KiB  
Article
Improvement in Nitrogen-Use Efficiency Increases Salt Stress Tolerance in Rice Seedlings and Grain Yield in Salinized Soil
by Ping Ji, Chen Xu, Fenglou Ling, Xingjie Li, Zexin Qi, Yunfeng Chen, Xiaolong Liu, Zhian Zhang, Jinze Wang, Zhiyang Luo, Ziwen Cheng and Jianrui Chen
Plants 2025, 14(4), 556; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14040556 - 11 Feb 2025
Viewed by 552
Abstract
Salt stress has become a major limiting factor of rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield worldwide. Appropriate nitrogen application contributes to improvement in the salt tolerance of rice. Here, we show that improvement in nitrogen-use efficiency increases salt stress tolerance in rice. Rice [...] Read more.
Salt stress has become a major limiting factor of rice (Oryza sativa L.) yield worldwide. Appropriate nitrogen application contributes to improvement in the salt tolerance of rice. Here, we show that improvement in nitrogen-use efficiency increases salt stress tolerance in rice. Rice varieties with different nitrogen-use efficiencies were subjected to salt stress; they were stimulated with 50, 100, and 150 mmol/L of NaCl solution at the seedling stage and subjected to salinities of 0.2, 0.4%, and 0.6% at the reproductive growth stage. Compared with nitrogen-inefficient rice varieties, the nitrogen-efficient rice varieties showed significant increases in the expression levels of nitrogen-use-efficiency-related genes (TOND1 and OsNPF6.1), nitrogen content (5.1–12.1%), and nitrogen-use enzyme activities (11.7–36.4%) when under salt stress conditions. The nitrogen-efficient rice varieties showed a better adaptation to salt stress, as shown by the decrease in leaf-withering rate (4.7–10.3%), the higher chlorophyll (3.8–9.7%) and water contents (1.1–9.2%), and the better root status (7.3–9.1%) found in the rice seedlings under salt stress conditions. Analysis of physiological indexes revealed that the nitrogen-efficient rice varieties accumulated higher osmotic adjustment substances (9.7–79.9%), lower ROS (23.1–190.8%) and Na+ (15.9–97.5%) contents, higher expression levels of salt stress-related genes in rice seedlings under salt stress conditions. Furthermore, the nitrogen-efficient rice varieties showed higher yield under salt stress, as shown by a lower salt-induced decrease in 1000-grain weight (2.1–6.2%), harvest index (1.4–4.9%), and grain yield (2.8–4.1%) at the reproductive growth stage in salinized soil. Conversely, the nitrogen-efficient rice varieties showed better growth and physiological metabolism statuses under severe salt stress conditions. Our results suggest that nitrogen-efficient rice varieties could improve nitrogen-use and transport efficiency; accordingly, their use can improve the gene expression network, alleviating salt damage and improving grain yield under severe salt stress conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Salinity Stress and Tolerance—2nd Edition)
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16 pages, 8723 KiB  
Article
Heterologous Expression of a Potential ‘Paulownia fortunei’ MYB Factor Gene, PfMYB90, Improves Salt and Cold Tolerance in Arabidopsis
by Hongling Wang, Shizheng Shi, Guijie Luo, Ruifang Huang, Dezong Sui, Yunpeng Gao and Lei Wang
Plants 2025, 14(1), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14010024 - 25 Dec 2024
Viewed by 645
Abstract
The paulownia tree belongs to the Paulowniaceae family. Paulownia has strong vitality; has strong adaptability to harsh environmental conditions; and can be used as building raw material, as well as processing drugs and having other purposes. In the research field of MYB transcription [...] Read more.
The paulownia tree belongs to the Paulowniaceae family. Paulownia has strong vitality; has strong adaptability to harsh environmental conditions; and can be used as building raw material, as well as processing drugs and having other purposes. In the research field of MYB transcription factors of the paulownia tree, it is rare to discuss the resistance to abiotic stress. The research in this area has not received sufficient attention and depth, which also indicates an important potential direction for future research. In this study, we performed bioinformatics analysis of the stress-related gene PfMYB90, a potential transcription factor, and investigated its mechanism of action under salt and cold stresses. PfMYB90 was strongly expressed in the fully unfolded leaf and root of plants in both stress treatments. Transgenic PfMYB90 Arabidopsis plants had a greater survival rate under salt and cold stresses, and the degree of leaf damage was comparatively smaller, according to phenotypic observation and survival rate calculations. By measuring the corresponding physiological indexes after stress and detecting the expression levels of corresponding stress genes (AtNHX1, AtSOS1, AtSOS2, AtSOS3, AtCBF1, AtCBF3, AtCOR15a, AtRD29a), it was found that after PfMYB90 gene transfer, Arabidopsis showed strong tolerance to salt and cold stresses. This is consistent with the results mentioned above. This transgenic technology enables Arabidopsis to survive under adverse environmental conditions, allowing it to maintain a relatively stable growth state despite salt accumulation and cold stress. Therefore, PfMYB90 may be a key gene in the regulatory network of salt damage and cold damage, as well as one of the key transcription factors for Paulownia fortunei environmental conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Salinity Stress and Tolerance—2nd Edition)
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12 pages, 2436 KiB  
Article
Identification of Salt-Stress-Responding Genes by Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis and Association Analysis in Wheat Leaves
by Linyi Qiao, Yijuan Li, Liujie Wang, Chunxia Gu, Shiyin Luo, Xin Li, Jinlong Yan, Chengda Lu, Zhijian Chang, Wei Gao and Xiaojun Zhang
Plants 2024, 13(18), 2642; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13182642 - 21 Sep 2024
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1131
Abstract
The leaf is not only the main site of photosynthesis, but also an important organ reflecting plant salt tolerance. Discovery of salt-stress-responding genes in the leaf is of great significance for the molecular improvement of salt tolerance in wheat varieties. In this study, [...] Read more.
The leaf is not only the main site of photosynthesis, but also an important organ reflecting plant salt tolerance. Discovery of salt-stress-responding genes in the leaf is of great significance for the molecular improvement of salt tolerance in wheat varieties. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was conducted on the leaves of salt-tolerant wheat germplasm CH7034 seedlings at 0, 1, 6, 24, and 48 h after NaCl treatment. Based on weighted gene correlation network analysis of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under salt stress, 12 co-expression modules were obtained, of which, 9 modules containing 4029 DEGs were related to the salt stress time-course. These DEGs were submitted to the Wheat Union database, and a total of 904,588 SNPs were retrieved from 114 wheat germplasms, distributed on 21 wheat chromosomes. Using the R language package and GAPIT program, association analysis was performed between 904,588 SNPs and leaf salt injury index of 114 wheat germplasms. The results showed that 30 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 15 DEGs were associated with salt tolerance. Then, nine candidate genes, including four genes (TaBAM, TaPGDH, TaGluTR, and TaAAP) encoding enzymes as well as five genes (TaB12D, TaS40, TaPPR, TaJAZ, and TaWRKY) encoding functional proteins, were identified by converting salt tolerance-related SNPs into Kompetitive Allele-Specifc PCR (KASP) markers for validation. Finally, interaction network prediction was performed on TaBAM and TaAAP, both belonging to the Turquoise module. Our results will contribute to a further understanding of the salt stress response mechanism in plant leaves and provide candidate genes and molecular markers for improving salt-tolerant wheat varieties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Mechanisms of Plant Salinity Stress and Tolerance—2nd Edition)
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