Ontivero Yadiana, Fuentes-Lillo Eduardo, Navarrete-Campos Darío, Vázquez-Villa Dante, Cabreras-Barjas Gustavo, Arroyo-Marín Francisca B, Cuba-Díaz Marely
Laboratorio de Biotecnología y Estudios Ambientales, Departamento de Ciencias y Tecnología Vegetal, Escuela de Ciencias y Tecnologías, Universidad de Concepción, Campus Los Ángeles, 4440000, Concepción, Chile.
Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Concepción, Campus Chillán, 3812189, Chillán, Chile.
Sci Rep. 2024 Dec 28;14(1):31120. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-82381-z.
Colobanthus quitensis is known for enduring extreme conditions, such as high salinity in Antarctica, making it an excellent model for studying environmental stress. In plant families, variations in seed color heteromorphism have been linked to various germination under stress conditions. Preliminary laboratory observations indicated that dark brown seeds of C. quitensis had higher germination rates, suggesting that this phenotypic trait might offer a germination advantage, particularly under saline conditions. To investigate this, germination of heteromorphic seeds from Antarctic, sub-Antarctic, and Andean populations of C. quitensis was assessed under in vitro saline conditions. Among all populations, dark brown seeds exhibited greater germination and shorter germination time than other seeds in the absence of salinity. In the Antarctic population, dark brown seeds showed better salinity tolerance. In the sub-Antarctic La Marisma population, salt tolerance was not affect by seed color, showing the population was the most salt-tolerant. The other two populations showed very low germination even at low salinity concentration. This study is the first scientific report of seed heteromorphism in C. quitensis populations, offering insights into mechanisms of salinity tolerance and potentially other stress conditions that enhance the species' resilience. In addition, the identification of La Marisma populations as a salinity-tolerant population will holds biotechnological importance for agriculture.
南极漆姑草以能耐受极端条件而闻名，比如南极洲的高盐度环境，这使其成为研究环境胁迫的绝佳模型。在植物家族中，种子颜色多态性的变化与胁迫条件下的不同萌发情况有关。初步的实验室观察表明，南极漆姑草的深褐色种子具有更高的萌发率，这表明这种表型特征可能具有萌发优势，尤其是在盐胁迫条件下。为了对此进行研究，在体外盐胁迫条件下评估了南极漆姑草来自南极、亚南极和安第斯种群的异形种子的萌发情况。在所有种群中，在无盐胁迫时，深褐色种子比其他种子表现出更高的萌发率和更短的萌发时间。在南极种群中，深褐色种子表现出更好的耐盐性。在亚南极的拉马里斯马种群中，耐盐性不受种子颜色影响，表明该种群是最耐盐的。其他两个种群即使在低盐浓度下萌发率也非常低。这项研究是关于南极漆姑草种群种子多态性的首份科学报告，为耐盐机制以及可能增强该物种恢复力的其他胁迫条件的机制提供了见解。此外，将拉马里斯马种群鉴定为耐盐种群对农业具有生物技术重要性。
