Open Access
ARTICLE
Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics and Response Patterns of Salinity Stress Responsive Genes (SSRGs) in Wild Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa L.)
Yurong Jiang1, Muhammad Yasir1, Yuefen Cao1, Lejia Hu1, Tongli Yan1, Shuijin Zhu2,*, Guoquan Lu1,*
1
The Key Laboratory for Quality Improvement of Agricultural Products of Zhejiang Province, College of Advanced Agricultural
Sciences, Zhejiang A&F University, Hangzhou, 311300, China
2
College of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
* Corresponding Authors: Shuijin Zhu. Email: ; Guoquan Lu. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Symbiotic Associations for Nutrients Management and Complexes Formation for Better Agricultural Crops Productivity under Biotic and Abiotic Stresses)
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2023, 92(2), 399-410. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2022.022742
Received 24 March 2022; Accepted 10 June 2022; Issue published 12 October 2022
Abstract
Cultivating salt-tolerant crops is a feasible way to effectively utilize saline-alkali land and solve the problem of
underutilization of saline soils. Quinoa, a protein-comprehensive cereal in the plant kingdom, is an exceptional
crop in terms of salt stress tolerance level. It seems an excellent model for the exploration of salt-tolerance
mechanisms and cultivation of salt-tolerant germplasms. In this study, the seeds and seedlings of the quinoa cultivar Shelly were treated with different concentrations of NaCl solution. The physiological, biochemical characteristics and agronomic traits were investigated, and the response patterns of three salt stress-responsive genes
(SSRGs) in quinoa were determined by real-time PCR. The optimum level of stress tolerance of quinoa cultivar
Shelly was found in the range of 250–350 mM concentration of NaCl. Salt stress significantly induced expression
of superoxide dismutase (
SOD), peroxidase (
POD), and particularly betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (
BADH).
BADH was discovered to be more sensitive to salt stress and played an important role in the salt stress tolerance
of quinoa seedlings, particularly at high NaCl concentrations, as it displayed upregulation until 24 h under
100 mM salt treatment. Moreover, it showed upregulation until 12 h under 250 mM salt stress. Taken together,
these results suggest that
BADH played an essential role in the salt-tolerance mechanism of quinoa. Based on the
expression level and prompt response induced by NaCl, we suggest that the
BADH can be considered as a molecular marker for screening salt-tolerant quinoa germplasm at the early stages of crop development. Salt treatment
at different plant ontogeny or at different concentrations had a significant impact on quinoa growth. Therefore,
an appropriate treatment approach needs to be chosen rationally in the process of screening salt-tolerant quinoa
germplasm, which is useful to the utilization of saline soils. Our study provides a fundamental information to
deepen knowledge of the salt tolerance mechanism of quinoa for the development of salt-tolerant germplasm
in crop breeding programs.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Jiang, Y., Yasir, M., Cao, Y., Hu, L., Yan, T. et al. (2023). Physiological and Biochemical Characteristics and Response Patterns of Salinity Stress Responsive Genes (SSRGs) in Wild Quinoa (
Chenopodium quinoa L.).
Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany, 92(2), 399–410.