Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb.
<i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. is a dominant forage in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. However, the combined cold and drought (CD) stress is a major problem inhibiting its growth, development, and yield. Here, the responses of morphological, photosynthetic, osmoregulation levels, and signal t...
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/9/2368 |
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| author | Bowen Liu Ruijia Wang Jiongjiong Gong Tianqi Zhu Si Long Huan Guo Tieyuan Liu Peizhi Yang Yuefei Xu |
| author_facet | Bowen Liu Ruijia Wang Jiongjiong Gong Tianqi Zhu Si Long Huan Guo Tieyuan Liu Peizhi Yang Yuefei Xu |
| author_sort | Bowen Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. is a dominant forage in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. However, the combined cold and drought (CD) stress is a major problem inhibiting its growth, development, and yield. Here, the responses of morphological, photosynthetic, osmoregulation levels, and signal transduction under cold, drought, and CD stress were explored. Both cold- and drought-stressed plants showed varying degrees of damage. In addition, CD stress led to more severe damage than single stress, especially in total biomass, photosynthetic capacity, and electron transfer efficiency. The total biomass, net photosynthetic rate, and maximal quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry reduced by 61.47%, 95.80%, and 16.06% in comparison with the control, respectively. Meanwhile, CD stress was accompanied by lower chlorophyll contents, down-regulated expression level of key photosynthetic enzymes (<i>EnRbcS</i>, <i>EnRbcL</i>, and <i>EnRCA</i>), stomatal closure, disrupted chloroplast ultrastructure, and reduced starch content. Furthermore, CD stress induced some adaptability responses in cold- and drought-tolerant <i>E. nutans</i> seedlings. The combined stress provoked alterations in both cold- and drought-related transcription factors and responsive genes. <i>EnCBF12</i>, <i>EnCBF9</i>, <i>EnCBF14</i>, and <i>EnCOR14α</i> were significantly up-regulated under cold or drought stress, and the transcript level of <i>EnCBF3</i> and <i>EnCBF12</i> was even 2.94 and 12.59 times higher than control under CD treatment, which indicated the key role of transcription factors activation in coping with CD stress. In addition, the content of soluble sugar, reducing sugar, proline, glycine betaine, and other osmolytes was significantly improved under CD stress. Therefore, we demonstrated that exposure to CD stress led to severe morphological and photosynthetic damage and revealed the acclimation to the cold and drought stress combination via osmotic adjustment and transcription factors activation in the Tibetan wild <i>E. nutans</i>. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:08:55Z |
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| id | doaj.art-db8229a5c31d41768521315f9a458df4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T23:08:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
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| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-db8229a5c31d41768521315f9a458df42023-11-19T09:11:18ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952023-09-01139236810.3390/agronomy13092368Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb.Bowen Liu0Ruijia Wang1Jiongjiong Gong2Tianqi Zhu3Si Long4Huan Guo5Tieyuan Liu6Peizhi Yang7Yuefei Xu8College of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, ChinaCollege of Grassland Agriculture, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China<i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. is a dominant forage in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. However, the combined cold and drought (CD) stress is a major problem inhibiting its growth, development, and yield. Here, the responses of morphological, photosynthetic, osmoregulation levels, and signal transduction under cold, drought, and CD stress were explored. Both cold- and drought-stressed plants showed varying degrees of damage. In addition, CD stress led to more severe damage than single stress, especially in total biomass, photosynthetic capacity, and electron transfer efficiency. The total biomass, net photosynthetic rate, and maximal quantum yield of photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry reduced by 61.47%, 95.80%, and 16.06% in comparison with the control, respectively. Meanwhile, CD stress was accompanied by lower chlorophyll contents, down-regulated expression level of key photosynthetic enzymes (<i>EnRbcS</i>, <i>EnRbcL</i>, and <i>EnRCA</i>), stomatal closure, disrupted chloroplast ultrastructure, and reduced starch content. Furthermore, CD stress induced some adaptability responses in cold- and drought-tolerant <i>E. nutans</i> seedlings. The combined stress provoked alterations in both cold- and drought-related transcription factors and responsive genes. <i>EnCBF12</i>, <i>EnCBF9</i>, <i>EnCBF14</i>, and <i>EnCOR14α</i> were significantly up-regulated under cold or drought stress, and the transcript level of <i>EnCBF3</i> and <i>EnCBF12</i> was even 2.94 and 12.59 times higher than control under CD treatment, which indicated the key role of transcription factors activation in coping with CD stress. In addition, the content of soluble sugar, reducing sugar, proline, glycine betaine, and other osmolytes was significantly improved under CD stress. Therefore, we demonstrated that exposure to CD stress led to severe morphological and photosynthetic damage and revealed the acclimation to the cold and drought stress combination via osmotic adjustment and transcription factors activation in the Tibetan wild <i>E. nutans</i>.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/9/2368chloroplast ultrastructurecombined stress<i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb.osmotic adjustmentphotosynthesisstomatal properties |
| spellingShingle | Bowen Liu Ruijia Wang Jiongjiong Gong Tianqi Zhu Si Long Huan Guo Tieyuan Liu Peizhi Yang Yuefei Xu Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. Agronomy chloroplast ultrastructure combined stress <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. osmotic adjustment photosynthesis stomatal properties |
| title | Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. |
| title_full | Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. |
| title_fullStr | Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. |
| title_short | Combined Cold and Drought Stress-Induced Response of Photosynthesis and Osmotic Adjustment in <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. |
| title_sort | combined cold and drought stress induced response of photosynthesis and osmotic adjustment in i elymus nutans i griseb |
| topic | chloroplast ultrastructure combined stress <i>Elymus nutans</i> Griseb. osmotic adjustment photosynthesis stomatal properties |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/13/9/2368 |
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