Salt stress is a major constraint for many crops and trees. A wild species of Goji named Lycium ruthenicum is an important economic halophyte in China and has an extremely high tolerance to salinity. L. ruthenicum grows in saline soil and is known as a potash-rich species. However, its salt adaptation strategies and ion balance mechanism remains poorly understood. Potassium (K+) is one of the essential macronutrients for plant growth and development. In this study, a putative salt stress-responsive gene encoding a HAK (high-affinity K+)/KUP (K+ uptake)/KT (K+ transporter) transporter was cloned and designated as LrKUP8. This gene belongs to the cluster II group of the KT/HAK/KUP family. The expression of LrKUP8 was strongly induced under high NaCl concentrations. The OE-LrKUP8 calli grew significantly better than the vector control calli under salt stress conditions. Further estimation by ion content and micro-electrode ion flux indicated a relative weaker K+ efflux in the OE-LrKUP8 calli than in the control. Thus, a key gene involved in K+ uptake under salt condition was functionally characterized using a newly established L. ruthenicum callus transformation system. The importance of K+ regulation in L. ruthenicum under salt tolerance was highlighted.
Toxoplasma gondii, one of the world’s most common parasites, can infect all types of warm-blooded animals, including one-third of the world’s human population. Most current routine diagnostic methods are costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. Although T. gondii can be directly observed under the microscope in tissue or spinal fluid samples, this form of identification is difficult and requires well-trained professionals. Nevertheless, the traditional identification of parasites under the microscope is still performed by a large number of laboratories. Novel, efficient, and reliable methods of T. gondii identification are therefore needed, particularly in developing countries. To this end, we developed a novel transfer learning-based microscopic image recognition method for T. gondii identification. This approach employs the fuzzy cycle generative adversarial network (FCGAN) with transfer learning utilizing knowledge gained by parasitologists that Toxoplasma is banana or crescent shaped. Our approach aims to build connections between microscopic and macroscopic associated objects by embedding the fuzzy C-means cluster algorithm into the cycle generative adversarial network (Cycle GAN). Our approach achieves 93.1% and 94.0% detection accuracy for ×400 and ×1,000 Toxoplasma microscopic images, respectively. We showed the high accuracy and effectiveness of our approach in newly collected unlabeled Toxoplasma microscopic images, compared to other currently available deep learning methods. This novel method for Toxoplasma microscopic image recognition will open a new window for developing cost-effective and scalable deep learning-based diagnostic solutions, potentially enabling broader clinical access in developing countries. IMPORTANCE Toxoplasma gondii, one of the world’s most common parasites, can infect all types of warm-blooded animals, including one-third of the world’s human population. Artificial intelligence (AI) could provide accurate and rapid diagnosis in fighting Toxoplasma. So far, none of the previously reported deep learning methods have attempted to explore the advantages of transfer learning for Toxoplasma detection. The knowledge from parasitologists is that the Toxoplasma parasite is generally banana or crescent shaped. Based on this, we built connections between microscopic and macroscopic associated objects by embedding the fuzzy C-means cluster algorithm into the cycle generative adversarial network (Cycle GAN). Our approach achieves high accuracy and effectiveness in ×400 and ×1,000 Toxoplasma microscopic images.
Populus euphratica Oliv. is a model tree for studying abiotic stress, especially salt stress response. Salt stress is one of the most extensive abiotic stresses, which has an adverse effect on plant growth and development. Salicylic acid (SA) is an important signaling molecule that plays an important role in modulating the plant responses to abiotic stresses. To answer whether the endogenous SA can be induced by salt stress, and whether SA effectively alleviates the negative effects of salt on poplar growth is the main purpose of the study. To elucidate the effects of SA and salt stress on the growth of P. euphratica, we examined the morphological and physiological changes of P. euphratica under 300 mM NaCl after treatment with different concentrations of SA. A pretreatment of P. euphratica with 0.4 mM SA for 3 days effectively improved the growth status of plants under subsequent salt stress. These results indicate that appropriate concentrations of exogenous SA can effectively counteract the negative effect of salt stress on growth and development. Subsequently, transcripts involved in salt stress response via SA signaling were captured by RNA sequencing. The results indicated that numerous specific genes encoding mitogen-activated protein kinase, calcium-dependent protein kinase, and antioxidant enzymes were upregulated. Potassium transporters and Na+/H+ antiporters, which maintain K+/Na+ balance, were also upregulated after SA pretreatment. The transcriptome changes show that the ion transport and antioxidant enzymes were the early enhanced systems in response of P. euphratica to salt via SA, expanding our knowledge about SA function in salt stress defense in P. euphratica. This provides a solid foundation for future study of functional genes controlling effective components in metabolic pathways of trees.
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