Salinity is one of the most important problems of irrigated agriculture worldwide. It is estimated that over 6% of the world's total surface area and about 20% of irrigated lands are affected by salinity with more than 75 countries facing salinity problems. Salt stress impairs growth and development of various agricultural crops. Fruit trees are usually more sensitive to salinity than herbaceous crops, and only few species are relatively resistant. The fig tree (Ficus carica L.), one of the most ancient perennial plants grown by humans, is reportedly quite resistant to salinity, but no comprehensive studies are currently available on its physiological and molecular responses to salt stress. Here we report a transcriptome analysis in leaves of Ficus carica (cv. Dottato) plants exposed to salt stress. Potted fig plants were either irrigated with good quality water or 100 mM NaCl three times a week for 7 weeks, hence leaf tissue was sampled for RNA-seq experiments at day 24 and 48 using a genome-derived fig transcriptome as a reference. At the 24 day sampling date, 224 transcripts were significantly up-regulated and 585 were down-regulated while, whereas at day 48, 409 and 285 genes were activated or repressed, respectively. Relatively small transcriptome changes were observed after 24 days of salinization, confirming that fig plants tolerate well salt stress, whereas major transcriptome changes were determined at the day 48 sampling date. In particular, after an early down-regulation of some cell functions, with a higher number of repressed genes, long-term salinity changed dramatically the set of genes expressed, and many cell functions were activated or reactivated, indicating that plants actively responded by adaptation to salinity. The analysis allowed us to identify salt-responding genes (such as genes involved in hormone biosynthesis, proline accumulation and redox system), as well as new putative salinity-regulated genes, which could be possible targets for the selection of favorable salt resistant genotypes but also for biotechnological actions to improve salt tolerance in other tree species.
Deciphering the molecular basis of salinity tolerance in fig tree (Ficus carica L.).
VANGELISTI A.;USAI G.;BERNARDI R.;MASCAGNI F.;CARUSO G.;CAVALLINI A.;GUCCI R.;NATALI L.;GIORDANI T.
2018-01-01
Abstract
Salinity is one of the most important problems of irrigated agriculture worldwide. It is estimated that over 6% of the world's total surface area and about 20% of irrigated lands are affected by salinity with more than 75 countries facing salinity problems. Salt stress impairs growth and development of various agricultural crops. Fruit trees are usually more sensitive to salinity than herbaceous crops, and only few species are relatively resistant. The fig tree (Ficus carica L.), one of the most ancient perennial plants grown by humans, is reportedly quite resistant to salinity, but no comprehensive studies are currently available on its physiological and molecular responses to salt stress. Here we report a transcriptome analysis in leaves of Ficus carica (cv. Dottato) plants exposed to salt stress. Potted fig plants were either irrigated with good quality water or 100 mM NaCl three times a week for 7 weeks, hence leaf tissue was sampled for RNA-seq experiments at day 24 and 48 using a genome-derived fig transcriptome as a reference. At the 24 day sampling date, 224 transcripts were significantly up-regulated and 585 were down-regulated while, whereas at day 48, 409 and 285 genes were activated or repressed, respectively. Relatively small transcriptome changes were observed after 24 days of salinization, confirming that fig plants tolerate well salt stress, whereas major transcriptome changes were determined at the day 48 sampling date. In particular, after an early down-regulation of some cell functions, with a higher number of repressed genes, long-term salinity changed dramatically the set of genes expressed, and many cell functions were activated or reactivated, indicating that plants actively responded by adaptation to salinity. The analysis allowed us to identify salt-responding genes (such as genes involved in hormone biosynthesis, proline accumulation and redox system), as well as new putative salinity-regulated genes, which could be possible targets for the selection of favorable salt resistant genotypes but also for biotechnological actions to improve salt tolerance in other tree species.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
