Project description:Climate change and population growth threaten global freshwater resources and food security. Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a specialized photosynthetic adaptation that exhibits superior water-use efficiency (WUE) compared to C3 and C4 photosynthesis. Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (common ice plant) is capable of shifting from C3 to CAM, making it a key model for investigating the photosynthesis plasticity and its potential to enhance crop stress resilience in a changing climate. To date, the molecular mechanisms underlying this high-WUE photosynthetic transition remain largely unknown.
Project description:Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, a facultative CAM plant, shifts from C3 to CAM photosynthesis under salt stress, enhancing water use efficiency due to inverse stomatal patterns. Exploring the mechanisms of this transition could improve salt tolerance in C3 crops. We used transcriptomics, proteomics, and targeted metabolomics every 8 hours to track molecular shifts during this transition. Results confirmed changes in CAM photosynthesis, starch biosynthesis, degradation, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Transcripts displayed greater circadian regulation than proteins. Oxidative phosphorylation was crucial, with the inositol pathway, involving methylation and phosphorylation, potentially initiating the transition. V-type ATPases showed consistent transcription regulation, aiding in vacuolar osmotic pressure maintenance. ABI1, a major component in the ABA signaling pathway, could be the trigger for the salt-induced transition, as it inhibits ABA-dependent stomatal closure. Our work highlights the pivotal role of ABA pathways in the C3 to CAM shift.
Project description:Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, a facultative CAM plant, shifts from C3 to CAM photosynthesis under salt stress, enhancing water use efficiency due to inverse stomatal patterns. Exploring the mechanisms of this transition could improve salt tolerance in C3 crops. We used transcriptomics, proteomics, and targeted metabolomics every 8 hours to track molecular shifts during this transition. Results confirmed changes in CAM photosynthesis, starch biosynthesis, degradation, and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Transcripts displayed greater circadian regulation than proteins. Oxidative phosphorylation was crucial, with the inositol pathway, involving methylation and phosphorylation, potentially initiating the transition. V-type ATPases showed consistent transcription regulation, aiding in vacuolar osmotic pressure maintenance. ABI1, a major component in the ABA signaling pathway, could be the trigger for the salt-induced transition, as it inhibits ABA-dependent stomatal closure. Our work highlights the pivotal role of ABA pathways in the C3 to CAM shift.
Project description:Ice plant (Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L.) is a halophyte and an inducible CAM plant. Ice plant seedlings exhibit moderate salt tolerance, with root growth unaffected by 200 mM NaCl treatments, while hypocotyl elongation is hindered in salt-stressed etiolated seedlings. Superoxide anion accumulation was prominent in cotyledons and primary leaves but decreased in root tissues over time but was not significantly affected by salt treatment. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels surged initially in both control and salt-treated seedlings, with higher and more persistent H2O2 levels in salt-treated seedlings, indicating salt-induced ROS accumulation, especially in etiolated seedlings. An RNA-seq analysis of etiolated seedlings revealed 6,326 unigenes (about 8%) showing more than a four-fold change in expression after a 6-h 200 mM NaCl treatment. The top GO terms for 4-fold upregulated DEGs in the Molecular Function category included “cation binding,” “metal ion binding,” “oxidoreductase activity,” “monooxygenase activity,” and “antioxidant activity.” The top GO terms for 4-fold down-regulated DEGs in the Biological Process category included “metabolic process”, “cellular metabolic process”, and “biosynthetic process”. Upregulated genes were primarily linked to ion transport and stress responses and downregulated genes to growth processes like ribosomal protein synthesis and cell wall formation. This indicates that salt stress hinders growth but enhances ion homeostasis and stress response mechanisms. For class III peroxidase family genes, 14 out of 53 identified transcripts met the criteria for differentially expressed genes. Quantitative RT-PCR confirmed that the expression of McPrx4.1, McPrx12.1, and McPrx12.3 increased, while the expression of McPrx60.3 decreased. We suggest distinct roles for individual class III peroxidase members in the trade-offs between plant growth and stress response. Unveiling these responses will advance our understanding of the growth–stress balance in the intrinsic salt tolerance in halophytes.
Project description:Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (common ice plant) is one of the facultative halophyte plants, and it serves as a model for investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying its salt stress response and tolerance. Here we cloned one of homeobox transcription factor (TF) gene McHB7 from ice plant, which has 60% similarity with the Arabidopsis AtHB7. Overexpression of McHB7 in Arabidopsis (OE) showed that the plants had significantly elevated relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll content, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) activities after salt stress treatment. Proteomics analysis identified 145 to be significantly changed in abundance, and 66 were exclusively increased in the OE plants compared to wild type (WT). After salt treatment, 979 and 959 metabolites were significantly increased and decreased in OE plants compared to the WT, respectively. The results demonstrated McHB7 can improve photosynthesis and increase the leaf chlorophyll content, and affect TCA cycle by regulating metabolites (e.g., pyruvate) and proteins (e.g., citrate synthase). Also, McHB7 modulates the expression of stress-related proteins (e.g., superoxide dismutase, dehydroascorbate reductase and pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase B) to scavenge reactive oxygen species and enhance plant salt tolerance.
Project description:Mesembryanthemum Crystallinum, a facultative CAM plant, shifts from C 3 to CAM photosynthesis under
salt stress, enhancing water use efficiency due to inverse stomatal patterns. Exploring the mechanisms
of this transition could improve salt tolerance in C 3 crops. We used transcriptomics, proteomics, and
targeted metabolomics every 8 hours to track molecular shifts during this transition.
Project description:Mesembryanthemum Crystallinum, a facultative CAM plant, shifts from C 3 to CAM photosynthesis under
salt stress, enhancing water use efficiency due to inverse stomatal patterns. Exploring the mechanisms
of this transition could improve salt tolerance in C 3 crops. We used transcriptomics, proteomics, and
targeted metabolomics every 8 hours to track molecular shifts during this transition.
Project description:Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (common ice plant) is a facultative halophyte species, which has adapted to extreme conditions. In this study, we cloned a McHB7 transcription factor gene from the ice plant. The expression of McHB7 was significantly induced by 500 mM NaCl and it reached the peak under salt treatment for 7 days. The McHB7 protein was targeted to the nucleus. Overexpression of McHB7 gene in ice plant leaves by Agrobacterium-mediated transformation led to 25 times more McHB7 transcripts than the non-transformed control wild type (WT). After 500 mM NaCl treatment for 7 days, SOD, POD activities and water content of the transgenic plants were significantly higher than WT, while MDA content was decreased in the transgenic plants. Proteomics results showed that a total of 1082 and 1072 proteins were profiled under control and salt treatment, respectively. 22 (2%) and 11 (1%) proteins were uniquely identified under control and salt stress conditions, respectively. Among these 11 proteins, 7 were increased and 4 were decreased. Most identified proteins involved in the processes of regulation of biological, transporter and catalytic activity, biosynthesis of secondary metabolties and response to stimulus were significantly increased in the McHB7 overexpression ice plants under high salinity. All the results demonstrate that the McHB7 transcription factor plays a positive role in improving plant salt tolerance.
Project description:Purpose: To compare RNASeq data of Frankia CcI3 in plants under salt stress. Casuarina glauca root nodules infected with Frankia CcI3 were exposed to either no salt or 100 mM NaCl for 21 days. RNA-seq analysis provided insight into how the sybiont responds to salt stress.
Project description:Although some mechanisms are known how plant growth beneficial bacteria help plants to grow under stressful conditions, we still know little how the metabolism of host plants and bacteria is coordinated during the establishment of functional interaction. In the present work, using single and dual transcriptomics, we studied the reprograming of metabolic and signaling pathways of Enterobacter sp. SA187 with Arabidopsis thaliana during the change from free-living to endophytic host-microbe interaction. We could identify major changes in primary and secondary metabolic pathways in both the host and bacteria upon interaction, with an important role of the sulfur metabolism and retrograde signaling in mediating plant resistance to salt stress. Also, we studied the effect of SA187 endogenous compounds and its role on sulfur metabolism and consequently salt tolerance. These data should help future research in the field of beneficial plant-microbe interactions for developing sophisticated strategies to improve agriculture of crops under adverse environmental conditions. transcriptome of Arabidopsis thaliana organs with beneficial microbe, beneficial microbe endogenous compound, and ethylene precursor