Quercus suber Roots Activate Antioxidant and Membrane Protective Processes in Response to High Salinity

• Published in: Plants (Basel) 2022-02, Vol.11 (4), p.557
• Main Authors: Dias, Maria Celeste, Santos, Conceição, Araújo, Márcia, Barros, Pedro M, Oliveira, Margarida, de Oliveira, José Miguel P Ferreira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abiotic stress; Adaptation; Antioxidants; AP2/ERF family transcription factors; Ascorbic acid; Catalase; dehydrins; Drought; Enzymatic activity; Enzymes; Exposure; Gene expression; Genes; Genetic engineering; Indigenous species; L-Ascorbate peroxidase; Lipid peroxidation; Lipids; membrane protection; Membranes; Oxidative stress; Peroxidase; Peroxidation; Phenols; Principal components analysis; Proteins; Quercus suber; Roots; Salinity; Salinity effects; Salinity tolerance; Salinization; Salt; Salts; Sodium chloride; Soil salinity; Soil stresses; Superoxide dismutase; zinc finger CCCH domain-containing proteins
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants11040557

Cork oak ( ) is a species native to Mediterranean areas and its adaptation to the increasingly prevalent abiotic stresses, such as soil salinization, remain unknown. In sequence with recent studies on salt stress response in the leaf, it is fundamental to uncover the plasticity of roots directly exposed to high salinity to better understand how copes with salt stress. In the present study we aimed to unveil the antioxidants and key-genes involved in the stress-responses (early vs. later responses) of roots exposed to high salinity. Two-month-old plants were watered with 300 mM NaCl solution and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, lipid peroxidation and the relative expression of genes related to stress response were analysed 8 h and 6 days after salt treatment. After an 8 h of exposure, roots activated the expression of and genes involved in stress membrane protection, and and genes involved in tolerance and adaptation. As a result of the continued salinity stress (6 days), lipid peroxidation increased, which was associated with an upregulation of gene. Moreover, other protective mechanisms were activated, such as the upregulation of genes related to antioxidant status, and , and the increase of the antioxidant enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and ascorbate peroxidase, concomitantly with total antioxidant activity and phenols. These data suggest a response dependent on the time of salinity exposure, leading roots to adopt protective complementary strategies to deal with salt stress.