Spatial and development responses in the wheat (Triticum aestivum) leaf highlight the loss of chloroplast protein homeostasis during salt stress.

ABSTRACT: Salinity stress in wheat affects physiological and biochemical parameters in tissues that alter plant development and ultimately lower crop yield. Shoot tissues are the most sensitive to salinity in wheat plants and accumulate salt over time through the transpiration stream. Rising NaCl concentrations impose physiological responses in leaf tips rather than in leaf bases and align salt effects with the basipetal developmental gradient of the monocot leaf. The role of metabolic processes in generating and responding to this phenotype can be explored by linking distinct changes in ion distributions to those of enzymes from the base to the tip of leaves under salt stress. We confirmed that enzymes for methionine synthesis and lipid degradation pathways increase, concomitantly with proteins in jasmonate synthesis which are key players in plant salt stress-induced responses. Combining the use of Differential Abundance of Protein analysis and Weighted Correlation Network Analysis we have focused on identifying key protein hubs associated with negative salt responses, shedding light on potential sites of salt sensitivity as targets for enhancing salt tolerance in wheat. We found chloroplast protein synthesis machinery, including the 30S and 50S ribosomal proteins, DNA-directed RNA polymerases, and protein synthesis elongation factors, were significantly reduced in abundance and correlated with the altered K+/Na+ ratio along salt-stressed wheat leaves. Additionally, the ATP-dependent caseinolytic protease and filamentous temperature-sensitive H protease, involved in chloroplast protein homeostasis, show decreased abundance with salt. The complex interplay of these processes in and across the leaf affects overall plant viability under salt stress.

INSTRUMENT(S):

ORGANISM(S): Triticum Aestivum (wheat)

TISSUE(S): Plant Cell, Shoot

SUBMITTER: Bhagya Dissanayake  

LAB HEAD: Andrew Harvey Millar

PROVIDER: PXD059765 | Pride | 2025-05-07

REPOSITORIES: Pride