Afonso Patrícia, Castro Isaura, Carvalho Márcia
Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
Institute for Innovation, Capacity Building and Sustainability of Agri-Food Production (Inov4Agro), University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Feb 22;26(5):1892. doi: 10.3390/ijms26051892.
Soil salinity is one of the most severe impacts of climate change, negatively affecting plant growth and development. Seed germination and seedling emergence are among the most critical stages susceptible to salt stress, making it important to explore them to identify the most resilient accessions for crop yield improvement. Cowpea ( L. Walp.) is an important crop due to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen, improving soil health, and its high protein content. The main objectives of this study were to screen salt-resilient cowpea accessions from a worldwide collection and to evaluate cowpea responses to salt stress at germination stage through gene expression analysis. A total of 40 cowpea accessions from sixteen different countries were subjected to two treatments: control (water) and salt stress (150 mM NaCl solution). The seeds germinated, and the seedlings grew for ten days. The germination and growth parameters and lipid peroxidation quantification were determined. The results revealed significant differences in all parameters among accessions and treatments. A high variation in salt responses was detected among accessions, allowing the selection of five accessions (Co_2, Co_4, Co_21, Co_30, Co_31) as resilient to salt stress at germination stage. Subsequently, two salt stress-related genes ( and ) were evaluated through qPCR, revealing genotype-dependent regulation. These results provide valuable insights for the early selection of salt-resilient cowpea accessions, which may be considered for the development of improved and new varieties in the future.
土壤盐渍化是气候变化最严重的影响之一，对植物生长发育产生负面影响。种子萌发和幼苗出土是最易受盐胁迫影响的关键阶段，因此探索这些阶段以确定提高作物产量的最具抗性的种质非常重要。豇豆（L. Walp.）是一种重要作物，因其具有固氮能力、能改善土壤健康状况且蛋白质含量高。本研究的主要目的是从全球收集的种质中筛选耐盐豇豆种质，并通过基因表达分析评估豇豆在萌发阶段对盐胁迫的反应。来自16个不同国家的40份豇豆种质接受了两种处理：对照（水）和盐胁迫（150 mM NaCl溶液）。种子萌发，幼苗生长10天。测定了萌发和生长参数以及脂质过氧化定量。结果表明，种质和处理之间所有参数均存在显著差异。在种质中检测到盐反应的高度变异，从而筛选出5份在萌发阶段耐盐胁迫的种质（Co_2、Co_4、Co_21、Co_30、Co_31）。随后，通过qPCR评估了两个与盐胁迫相关的基因（和），揭示了基因型依赖性调控。这些结果为早期筛选耐盐豇豆种质提供了有价值的见解，未来可能会考虑将其用于改良品种和新品种的培育。
