H<sub>2</sub>S Enhanced the Tolerance of <i>Malus hupehensis</i> to Alkaline Salt Stress through the Expression of Genes Related to Sulfur-Containing Compounds and the Cell Wall in Roots
Malus is an economically important plant that is widely cultivated worldwide, but it often encounters saline–alkali stress. The composition of saline–alkali land is a variety of salt and alkali mixed with the formation of alkaline salt. Hydrogen sulfide (H<sub>2</sub>S) has been reported...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-11-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/23/14848 |
| Summary: | Malus is an economically important plant that is widely cultivated worldwide, but it often encounters saline–alkali stress. The composition of saline–alkali land is a variety of salt and alkali mixed with the formation of alkaline salt. Hydrogen sulfide (H<sub>2</sub>S) has been reported to have positive effects on plant responses to abiotic stresses. Our previous study showed that H<sub>2</sub>S pretreatment alleviated the damage caused by alkaline salt stress to <i>Malus hupehensis</i> Rehd. var. <i>pingyiensis</i> Jiang (Pingyi Tiancha, PYTC) roots by regulating Na<sup>+</sup>/K<sup>+</sup> homeostasis and oxidative stress. In this study, transcriptome analysis was used to investigate the overall mechanism through which H<sub>2</sub>S alleviates alkaline salt stress in PYTC roots. Simultaneously, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were explored. Transcriptional profiling of the Control-H<sub>2</sub>S, Control-AS, Control-H<sub>2</sub>S + AS, and AS-H<sub>2</sub>S + AS comparison groups identified 1618, 18,652, 16,575, and 4314 DEGs, respectively. Further analysis revealed that H<sub>2</sub>S could alleviate alkaline salt stress by increasing the energy maintenance capacity and cell wall integrity of <i>M. hupehensis</i> roots and by enhancing the capacity for reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism because more upregulated genes involved in ROS metabolism and sulfur-containing compounds were identified in <i>M. hupehensis</i> roots after H<sub>2</sub>S pretreatment. qRT-PCR analysis of H<sub>2</sub>S-induced and alkaline salt-response genes showed that these genes were consistent with the RNA-seq analysis results, which indicated that H<sub>2</sub>S alleviation of alkaline salt stress involves the genes of the cell wall and sulfur-containing compounds in PYTC roots. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |