Szurman-Zubrzycka Miriam, Chwiałkowska Karolina, Niemira Magdalena, Kwaśniewski Mirosław, Nawrot Małgorzata, Gajecka Monika, Larsen Paul B, Szarejko Iwona
Institute of Biology, Biotechnology and Environmental Protection, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland.
Centre for Bioinformatics and Data Analysis, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland.
Front Genet. 2021 May 19;12:675260. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.675260. eCollection 2021.
Aluminum (Al) toxicity is considered to be the most harmful abiotic stress in acidic soils that today comprise more than 50% of the world's arable lands. Barley belongs to a group of crops that are most sensitive to Al in low pH soils. We present the RNA-seq analysis of root meristems of barley seedlings grown in hydroponics at optimal pH (6.0), low pH (4.0), and low pH with Al (10 μM of bioavailable Al ions). Two independent experiments were conducted: with short-term (24 h) and long-term (7 days) Al treatment. In the short-term experiment, more genes were differentially expressed (DEGs) between root meristems grown at pH = 6.0 and pH = 4.0, than between those grown at pH = 4.0 with and without Al treatment. The genes upregulated by low pH were associated mainly with response to oxidative stress, cell wall organization, and iron ion binding. Among genes upregulated by Al, overrepresented were those related to response to stress condition and calcium ion binding. In the long-term experiment, the number of DEGs between hydroponics at pH = 4.0 and 6.0 were lower than in the short-term experiment, which suggests that plants partially adapted to the low pH. Interestingly, 7 days Al treatment caused massive changes in the transcriptome profile. Over 4,000 genes were upregulated and almost 2,000 genes were downregulated by long-term Al stress. These DEGs were related to stress response, cell wall development and metal ion transport. Based on our results we can assume that both, Al ions and low pH are harmful to barley plants. Additionally, we phenotyped the root system of barley seedlings grown in the same hydroponic conditions for 7 days at pH = 6.0, pH = 4.0, and pH = 4.0 with Al. The results correspond to transcriptomic data and show that low pH itself is a stress factor that causes a significant reduction of root growth and the addition of aluminum further increases this reduction. It should be noted that in acidic arable lands, plants are exposed simultaneously to both of these stresses. The presented transcriptome analysis may help to find potential targets for breeding barley plants that are more tolerant to such conditions.
铝(Al)毒性被认为是酸性土壤中最有害的非生物胁迫,如今酸性土壤占世界耕地的50%以上。大麦属于在低pH土壤中对铝最敏感的一类作物。我们展示了在水培条件下,于最佳pH(6.0)、低pH(4.0)以及低pH加铝(10 μM生物可利用铝离子)环境中生长的大麦幼苗根分生组织的RNA测序分析。进行了两项独立实验:短期(24小时)和长期(7天)铝处理。在短期实验中,pH = 6.0和pH = 4.0条件下生长的根分生组织之间差异表达的基因(DEGs),比pH = 4.0有铝处理和无铝处理条件下生长的根分生组织之间更多。低pH上调的基因主要与氧化应激反应、细胞壁组织和铁离子结合有关。在铝上调的基因中,与应激条件反应和钙离子结合相关的基因占比过高。在长期实验中,pH = 4.0和6.0水培条件之间的DEGs数量低于短期实验,这表明植物部分适应了低pH。有趣的是,7天的铝处理导致转录组图谱发生大量变化。长期铝胁迫上调了4000多个基因,下调了近2000个基因。这些DEGs与应激反应、细胞壁发育和金属离子运输有关。基于我们的结果可以推测,铝离子和低pH对大麦植株都有害。此外,我们对在相同水培条件下于pH = 6.0、pH = 4.0以及pH = 4.0加铝环境中生长7天的大麦幼苗根系进行了表型分析。结果与转录组数据相符,表明低pH本身就是一个导致根系生长显著减少的胁迫因素,而添加铝会进一步加剧这种减少。需要注意的是,在酸性耕地上,植物会同时受到这两种胁迫。所呈现的转录组分析可能有助于找到培育更耐受此类条件的大麦植株的潜在靶点。