title: A comparative study of salt tolerance parameters in 11 wild relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Salinity is an abiotic stress that limits both yield and the expansion of agricultural crops to new areas. In the last 20 years our basic understanding of the mechanisms underlying plant tolerance and adaptation to saline environments has greatly improved owing to active development of advanced tools in molecular, genomics, and bioinformatics analyses. However, the full potential of investigative power has not been fully exploited, because the use of halophytes as model systems in plant salt tolerance research is largely neglected. The recent introduction of halophytic Arabidopsis-Relative Model Species (ARMS) has begun to compare and relate several unique genetic resources to the well-developed Arabidopsis model. In a search for candidates to begin to understand, through genetic analyses, the biological bases of salt tolerance, 11 wild relatives of Arabidopsis thaliana were compared: Barbarea verna, Capsella bursa-pastoris, Hirschfeldia incana, Lepidium densiflorum, Malcolmia triloba, Lepidium virginicum, Descurainia pinnata, Sisymbrium officinale, Thellungiella parvula, Thellungiella salsuginea (previously T. halophila), and Thlaspi arvense. Among these species, highly salt-tolerant (L. densiflorum and L. virginicum) and moderately salt-tolerant (M. triloba and H. incana) species were identified. Only T. parvula revealed a true halophytic habitus, comparable to the better studied Thellungiella salsuginea. Major differences in growth, water transport properties, and ion accumulation are observed and discussed to describe the distinctive traits and physiological responses that can now be studied genetically in salt stress research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agro-environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 44, I-40127 Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Orsini
authors.forename: Matilde Paino
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: D'Urzo
authors.forename: Gunsu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Inan
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Serra
authors.forename: Dong-Ha
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Michael V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Mickelbart
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Consiglio
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jae Cheol
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Dae-Jin
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Hans J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bohnert
authors.forename: Ray A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bressan
authors.forename: Albino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maggio
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D019607:Brassicaceae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects; D007928:Lethal Dose 50; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects; D054046:Plant Stomata / Q000187:drug effects; D011188:Potassium; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000502:physiology*; D012964:Sodium; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride; D012964:Sodium; D011188:Potassium