Rahmati Ishka Maryam, Sussman Hayley, Hu Yunfei, Alqahtani Mashael Daghash, Craft Eric, Sicat Ronell, Wang Minmin, Yu Li'ang, Ait-Haddou Rachid, Li Bo, Drakakaki Georgia, Nelson Andrew D L, Pineros Miguel, Korte Arthur, Jaremko Łukasz, Testerink Christa, Tester Mark, Julkowska Magdalena M
Boyce Thompson Institute, Ithaca, United States.
School of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
Elife. 2025 Mar 28;13:RP98896. doi: 10.7554/eLife.98896.
Soil salinity is one of the major threats to agricultural productivity worldwide. Salt stress exposure alters root and shoots growth rates, thereby affecting overall plant performance. While past studies have extensively documented the effect of salt stress on root elongation and shoot development separately, here we take an innovative approach by examining the coordination of root and shoot growth under salt stress conditions. Utilizing a newly developed tool for quantifying the root:shoot ratio in agar-grown seedlings, we found that salt stress results in a loss of coordination between root and shoot growth rates. We identify a specific gene cluster encoding domain-of-unknown-function 247 (DUF247), and characterize one of these genes as alt oot:shoot atio egulator ene (SR3G). Further analysis elucidates the role of SR3G as a negative regulator of salt stress tolerance, revealing its function in regulating shoot growth, root suberization, and sodium accumulation. We further characterize that expression is modulated by transcription factor, known as a positive regulator of salt stress tolerance. Finally, we show that the salt stress sensitivity of mutant is completely diminished when it is combined with mutation. Together, our results demonstrate that utilizing root:shoot ratio as an architectural feature leads to the discovery of a new stress resilience gene. The study's innovative approach and findings not only contribute to our understanding of plant stress tolerance mechanisms but also open new avenues for genetic and agronomic strategies to enhance crop environmental resilience.
土壤盐渍化是全球农业生产力面临的主要威胁之一。盐胁迫会改变根和地上部的生长速率，从而影响植株整体表现。虽然过去的研究已经广泛记录了盐胁迫对根伸长和地上部发育的单独影响，但在此我们采用一种创新方法，研究盐胁迫条件下根和地上部生长的协调性。利用一种新开发的工具来量化琼脂培养幼苗的根冠比，我们发现盐胁迫导致根和地上部生长速率之间的协调性丧失。我们鉴定出一个编码未知功能结构域247（DUF247）的特定基因簇，并将其中一个基因表征为根冠比调节基因（SR3G）。进一步分析阐明了SR3G作为盐胁迫耐受性负调节因子的作用，揭示了其在调节地上部生长、根木栓化和钠积累方面的功能。我们进一步表征了其表达受一种转录因子调控，该转录因子是盐胁迫耐受性的正调节因子。最后，我们表明，当突变体与另一个突变相结合时，其盐胁迫敏感性完全降低。总之，我们的结果表明，将根冠比作为一种结构特征有助于发现一个新的抗逆基因。该研究的创新方法和发现不仅有助于我们理解植物的胁迫耐受机制，还为增强作物环境适应性的遗传和农艺策略开辟了新途径。
