Physiological and Transcriptional Responses of Sorghum Seedlings Under Alkali Stress

作者：Xinyu Liu, Bo Wang, Yiyu Zhao, Min Chu, Yu Han, Di Gao, Jiaheng Wang, Zhi Li, Sibei Liu, Yuhan Li, Yulei Wei, Jinpeng Wei, Jingyu Xu · 发表于：Plants · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.3390/plants14193106 · 被引用次数：3 · 研究领域：Plant Stress Responses and Tolerance、Plant responses to water stress、Plant nutrient uptake and metabolism

Saline-alkali stress seriously affects the growth and development of crops. Sorghum bicolor (L.), a C4 plant, is an important cereal crop in the world, and its growth and geographical distribution are limited by alkali conditions. In this study, sorghum genotypes with different alkaline resistance (alkaline-sensitive Z1 and alkaline-tolerant Z14) were used as experimental materials to explore the effects of alkali on sorghum seedlings. RNA-seq technology was used to examine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in alkali-tolerant Z14 to reveal the molecular mechanism of sorghum response to alkali stress. The results showed that plant height, root length, and biomass of both cultivars decreased with time under 80 mM NaHCO3 treatment, but Z14 showed better water retention abilities. The photosynthetic fluorescence parameters and chlorophyll content also decreased, but the Fv/Fm, ETH, ΦPSII, and chlorophyll content of Z14 were significantly higher than those of Z1. The level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) increased in both sorghum varieties under alkali stress, while the enzyme activities of SOD, POD, CAT, and APX were also significantly increased, especially in Z14, resulting in lower ROS compared with Z1. Transcriptome analysis revealed around 6000 DEGs in Z14 sorghum seedlings under alkali stress, among which 267 DEGs were expressed in all comparison groups. KEGG pathways were enriched in the MAPK signaling pathway, plant hormone signal transduction, and RNA transport. ...