title: Metabolic contribution to salt stress in two maize hybrids with contrasting resistance.
abstract: Salt stress reduces the growth of salt-sensitive plants such as maize. The cultivation of salt-resistant maize varieties might therefore help to reduce yield losses. For the elucidation of the underlying physiological and biochemical processes of a resistant hybrid, we used a gas chromatography mass spectrometry approach and analyzed five different salt stress levels. By comparing a salt-sensitive and a salt-resistant maize hybrid, we were able to identify an accumulation of sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose in leaves as a salt-resistance adaption of the salt-sensitive hybrid. Although, both hybrids showed a strong decrease of the metabolite concentration in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. These decreases resulted in the same reduced catabolism for the salt-sensitive and even the salt-resistant maize hybrid. Surprisingly, the change of root metabolism was negligible under salt stress. Moreover, the salt-resistance mechanisms were the most effective at low salt-stress levels in the leaves of the salt-sensitive maize.
authors.affiliation: University of Hohenheim, Institute of Crop Science, Quality of Plant Products, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany. Electronic address: juliaannika_richter@uni-hohenheim.de.
authors.forename: Julia Annika
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erban
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kopka
authors.affiliation: University of Hohenheim, Institute of Crop Science, Quality of Plant Products, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zörb
mesh_terms: D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D017136:Ion Transport; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D055049:Salt Tolerance; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000494:pharmacology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012965:Sodium Chloride
keywords: Metabolite profiling; Metabolomics; Salt resistance; Salt stress; Zea mays