Li Zhenqin, Cheng Long, Li Sitong, Liu Guangcai, Liu Sijia, Xu Duo, Yang Rongchao, Feng Feng, Wang Junning, Zheng Chao
College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China.
Yangjiang Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Yangjiang Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yangjiang, 529800, China.
BMC Genomics. 2025 Mar 11;26(1):231. doi: 10.1186/s12864-025-11409-z.
Water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.) is an important leaf vegetable affected by salt stress, however, little is known about its salt adaption mechanism. Here, we integrated physiomics, ionomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics to analyze the root adaptation response of two water spinach varieties, BG (salt-tolerant) and MF (salt-sensitive), at 150 mM NaCl. The results showed that compared with MF, BG significantly reduced the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and HO, and increased catalase (CAT) activity and proline content. Ionome analysis demonstrated that BG significantly reduced Na accumulation and increased K level to reduce the toxicity of Na, compared to MF. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) revealed that key transcription factors such as HSFA4A, bHLH093, and IDD7, which were only up-regulated in BG. Multi-omics revealed that BG reprogrammed key pathways: starch and sucrose metabolism, as well as galactose metabolism, leading to decreased amylose production and increased sucrose and galactose levels, helping to maintain cellular osmotic balance in response to salt stress. These findings provide insight into transcriptional regulation in response to salt stress, which could advance the genetic enhancement of water spinach.
蕹菜（Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.）是一种受盐胁迫影响的重要叶菜类蔬菜，然而，人们对其耐盐机制知之甚少。在此，我们整合了生理组学、离子组学、转录组学和代谢组学，以分析两个蕹菜品种BG（耐盐）和MF（盐敏感）在150 mM NaCl条件下的根系适应反应。结果表明，与MF相比，BG显著降低了丙二醛（MDA）和HO的含量，并提高了过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性和脯氨酸含量。离子组分析表明，与MF相比，BG显著减少了Na的积累并提高了K水平，以降低Na的毒性。加权基因共表达网络分析（WGCNA）显示，关键转录因子如HSFA4A、bHLH093和IDD7仅在BG中上调。多组学研究表明，BG对关键途径进行了重编程：淀粉和蔗糖代谢以及半乳糖代谢，导致直链淀粉产量降低，蔗糖和半乳糖水平升高，有助于在盐胁迫下维持细胞渗透平衡。这些发现为盐胁迫下的转录调控提供了见解，这可能会推动蕹菜的遗传改良。
