Abstract
Abstract The growth and development of maize is affected in a crucial way by the salinity of the soil it grows in. Therefore, if we want to improve the salt tolerance of maize, it is of paramount importance to understand how it responds to salt stress. To explore how maize adapts to a saline environment, we chose one salt‐tolerant maize variety, Jingnongyu 658 (JNY658), and one salt‐sensitive variety, Yunyu7 (YY7), and treated the seedlings of both varieties with a 100 mM NaCl solution. After harvesting them, we analysed the adaptive responses to salt stress with respect to various characteristics of the root architecture and water and nutrient acquisition. We found that when subjected to salt stress, both varieties exhibited a reduction in biomass, root activity, 15 N and H 2 18 O uptake amount, lateral root branching density, lateral root length, total root length, root surface area and root volume, where the YY7 suffered a greater reduction than the JNY658. Salt stress also induced a decreased absorption of K + , passively promoted the absorption of Na + and gave rise to an increased Na + /K + ratio in the roots of both varieties. It should be noted that JNY658 exposed to salt stress developed a lower Na + /K + ratio than YY7. Compared with the control group, the expression of ZmSOS1, ZmSOS2 and ZmNHX genes in the roots of JNY658 subjected to salt stress was significantly upregulated, which enabled them to maintain a lower Na + content. In both varieties, the salicylic acid (SA) and gibberellin 19 acid (GA 19 ) content increased significantly, but the auxin (IAA), jasmonic acid (JA) and trans‐zeatin (TZ) content was reduced. In addition, JNY658 in salt stress significantly increased their abscisic acid (ABA) content, due to the increased expression of its key biosynthesis genes, NCED. Compared with JNY658, the reductions in IAA, JA and TZ content in YY7 were greater, while the increases in ABA and SA content were smaller. The varieties in the ABA, JA, SA and IAA of roots subjected to salt stress significantly or extremely significantly correlated with the lateral root branching density, lateral root length, root surface area, Na + content, K + content and Na + /K + ratio. We conclude that the salt‐tolerant maize variety mitigated the toxic effect of salinity on maize root growth and development by regulating the hormone content and enhancing its expression of stress‐responsive genes while maintaining ion homeostasis and promoting water and nutrient acquisition, which ultimately resulted in a less pronounced decrease in plant biomass.
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Claims 12
Claim · model-written summary
Salt stress reduced biomass, root activity, isotope uptake and root architecture traits, more in YY7.
- Material
- YY7e0
- Treatment
- 100 mM NaCl solutione1
- Outcome
- biomass, root activity, 15 N and H 2 18 O uptake amounte0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Comparator
- JNY658e0
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“both varieties exhibited a reduction in biomass, root activity, 15 N and H 2 18 O uptake amount, lateral root branching density, lateral root length, total root length, root surface area and root volume, where the YY7 suffered a greater reduction than the JNY658”
e1“treated the seedlings of both varieties with a 100 mM NaCl solution”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Salt stress reduced lateral root density, length, root surface area and volume more in YY7.
- Material
- YY7e0
- Treatment
- 100 mM NaCl solutione1
- Outcome
- lateral root branching density, lateral root length, total root length, root surface area and root volumee0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Comparator
- JNY658e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“both varieties exhibited a reduction in biomass, root activity, 15 N and H 2 18 O uptake amount, lateral root branching density, lateral root length, total root length, root surface area and root volume, where the YY7 suffered a greater reduction than the JNY658”
e1“100 mM NaCl solution”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Salt stress decreased root potassium absorption.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Salt stress also induced a decreased absorption of K +”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Salt stress increased sodium absorption and root sodium to potassium ratio.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“passively promoted the absorption of Na + and gave rise to an increased Na + /K + ratio in the roots of both varieties”
e1“Salt stress also induced”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Salt-stressed JNY658 had lower root Na+/K+ than YY7.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“JNY658 exposed to salt stress developed a lower Na + /K + ratio than YY7”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Salt stress significantly upregulated ZmSOS1, ZmSOS2 and ZmNHX in JNY658 roots.
- Material
- JNY658e0
- Treatment
- salt stresse0
- Gene
- ZmSOS1, ZmSOS2 and ZmNHXe0
- Outcome
- expressione0
- Direction
- upregulatede0
- Comparator
- control groupe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Compared with the control group, the expression of ZmSOS1, ZmSOS2 and ZmNHX genes in the roots of JNY658 subjected to salt stress was significantly upregulated”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Salt stress increased salicylic acid and GA19 in both varieties.
- Treatment
- salt stresse1
- Outcome
- salicylic acid (SA) and gibberellin 19 acid (GA 19 ) contente0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In both varieties, the salicylic acid (SA) and gibberellin 19 acid (GA 19 ) content increased significantly”
e1“JNY658 subjected to salt stress”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Salt stress reduced IAA, JA and TZ in both varieties.
- Treatment
- salt stresse1
- Outcome
- auxin (IAA), jasmonic acid (JA) and trans‐zeatin (TZ) contente0
- Direction
- reducede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the auxin (IAA), jasmonic acid (JA) and trans‐zeatin (TZ) content was reduced”
e1“JNY658 subjected to salt stress”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
JNY658 increased ABA under salt stress through increased NCED expression.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“JNY658 in salt stress significantly increased their abscisic acid (ABA) content, due to the increased expression of its key biosynthesis genes, NCED”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
YY7 had larger IAA, JA and TZ reductions than JNY658.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Compared with JNY658, the reductions in IAA, JA and TZ content in YY7 were greater”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
YY7 had smaller ABA and SA increases than JNY658.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the increases in ABA and SA content were smaller”
e1“Compared with JNY658, the reductions in IAA, JA and TZ content in YY7 were greater”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
Claim · model-written summary
Root hormones correlated significantly with root architecture and ion traits under salt stress.
- Compound
- ABA, JA, SA and IAAe0
- Outcome
- lateral root branching density, lateral root length, root surface area, Na + content, K + content and Na + /K + ratioe0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The varieties in the ABA, JA, SA and IAA of roots subjected to salt stress significantly or extremely significantly correlated with the lateral root branching density, lateral root length, root surface area, Na + content, K + content and Na + /K + ratio”
t0“maize (Zea mays L.)”
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See all 32 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.