title: Adverse effect of urease on salt stress during seed germination in Arabidopsis thaliana.
abstract: Seed germination is a critical stage in the development of crops that grow in saline soils. We noticed that seeds of an Arabidopsis urease mutant have significantly increased salt stress tolerance. To understand why, we treated the wild type (WT) with a urease inhibitor and found that its salt stress tolerance was also improved. We hypothesized that urease acting on urea generates NH₄⁺, which probably exacerbates salt stress. As expected, the urease inhibitor significantly decreased the NH₄⁺ level in WT seeds. These findings suggest that blocking urease activity improves salt tolerance during seed germination by lowering the concentration of NH₄⁺.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration in Oil Field (SAVER), Ministry of Education, Alkali Soil Natural Environmental Science Center (ASNESC), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, PR China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration in Oil Field (SAVER), Ministry of Education, Alkali Soil Natural Environmental Science Center (ASNESC), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, PR China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kou
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration in Oil Field (SAVER), Ministry of Education, Alkali Soil Natural Environmental Science Center (ASNESC), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, PR China.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Asian Natural Environmental Science Center (ASNESC), The University of Tokyo, Nishitokyo, Tokyo 188-0002, Japan.
authors.forename: Testuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Saline-Alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration in Oil Field (SAVER), Ministry of Education, Alkali Soil Natural Environmental Science Center (ASNESC), Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, PR China. Electronic address: shenkuiliu@nefu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shenkui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000641:Ammonia / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000378:metabolism; D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects; D009154:Mutation; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D055049:Salt Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects; D055051:Salt-Tolerant Plants / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D014508:Urea / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D014510:Urease / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D000641:Ammonia; D014508:Urea; D014510:Urease
keywords: Ammonium concentration; Arabidopsis thaliana; Phenyl phosphorodiamidate (PPD); Salt tolerance; Seed germination; Urea metabolism