Al Aboud Nora M, Safhi Fatmah Ahmed, Alqudah Ahmad M, Thabet Samar G
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh, 11671, Saudi Arabia.
Mol Genet Genomics. 2025 May 7;300(1):48. doi: 10.1007/s00438-025-02251-9.
The concept of stress memory where plants "remember" previous exposure to stress and react more robustly upon subsequent exposures has gained traction in recent years. Therefore, this study successfully identifies key genetic loci and alleles that enhance stress memory in wheat, specifically focusing on germination parameters and antioxidant activities using a genome-wide association study (GWAS) under salt stress. Our study revealed that salt-stressed wheat genotypes showed highly significant increases in all germination traits and antioxidants compared to non-stressed wheat plants. For salt-stressed wheat genotypes, SOD showed highly significant positive correlations with DW, APX, and GR (r = 0.99***, 0.99***, 0.70***), respectively. These strong correlations suggest that SOD, along with APX and GR, plays a critical role in maintaining growth and enhancing antioxidant defense mechanisms in wheat under salinity stress conditions. Inside the linkage disequilibrium, 81 significant SNP markers were detected to be associated with our trait of interest. Furthermore, the study's exploration of several potential candidate genes involved in the "stress memory" effect provides a novel perspective on the adaptive responses of wheat to salinity stress. For instance, the gene TraesCS2B02G194200 is annotated as glycosyltransferase activity. Interestingly, glycosyltransferases play a critical role in mediating salt stress tolerance in cereal crops by modulating key metabolic pathways and enhancing the stability of cellular components. The presence of the G allele in this SNP was associated with higher antioxidant content in wheat genotypes compared to those carrying the A allele, indicating that selecting wheat genotypes with the G allele could enhance antioxidant defense, potentially leading to improved tolerance to salt stress. Identifying genes associated with this effect sheds light on the molecular mechanisms that enable plants to retain and pass on adaptive responses across generations and opens new avenues for targeted breeding and genetic engineering. These genes could serve as valuable targets for developing wheat varieties with enhanced salinity tolerance, providing a means to harness and enhance natural adaptive processes through crop improvement strategies.
植物“记住”先前遭受的胁迫并在后续暴露时做出更强烈反应的胁迫记忆概念近年来受到了关注。因此，本研究成功鉴定了增强小麦胁迫记忆的关键基因座和等位基因，特别是在盐胁迫下使用全基因组关联研究（GWAS）聚焦于发芽参数和抗氧化活性。我们的研究表明，与未受胁迫的小麦植株相比，盐胁迫的小麦基因型在所有发芽性状和抗氧化剂方面均表现出极显著增加。对于盐胁迫的小麦基因型，超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）与干重（DW）、抗坏血酸过氧化物酶（APX）和谷胱甘肽还原酶（GR）分别表现出极显著的正相关（r = 0.99***、0.99***、0.70***）。这些强相关性表明，SOD与APX和GR一起，在盐胁迫条件下维持小麦生长和增强抗氧化防御机制中起关键作用。在连锁不平衡范围内，检测到81个显著的单核苷酸多态性（SNP）标记与我们感兴趣的性状相关。此外，该研究对涉及“胁迫记忆”效应的几个潜在候选基因的探索为小麦对盐胁迫的适应性反应提供了新视角。例如，基因TraesCS2B02G194200被注释为具有糖基转移酶活性。有趣的是，糖基转移酶通过调节关键代谢途径和增强细胞成分的稳定性，在介导谷类作物的耐盐胁迫中起关键作用。与携带A等位基因的小麦基因型相比，该SNP中G等位基因的存在与小麦基因型中更高的抗氧化剂含量相关，这表明选择具有G等位基因的小麦基因型可以增强抗氧化防御，可能导致对盐胁迫耐受性的提高。鉴定与这种效应相关的基因有助于揭示使植物能够保留并传递跨代适应性反应的分子机制，并为定向育种和基因工程开辟新途径。这些基因可作为培育耐盐性增强的小麦品种的有价值靶点，通过作物改良策略提供一种利用和增强自然适应过程的手段。
