Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress that limits agriculture productivity worldwide. Salicornia europaea is a succulent annual euhalophyte and one of the most salt tolerant plant species. The elucidation of its salt tolerance mechanism is of significance for generating salt-tolerant crops. In this study, we provided high resolution of proteome reference maps of S. europaea shoot and obtained evidence on the salt tolerance mechanism by analyzing the proteomic responses of this plant to high salinity. Our results demonstrated significant variations existed in 196 out of 1880 protein spots detected on CBB stained 2-DE gels. Of these, 111 proteins were identified by mass spectrometry. Among them, the majority was energy production and conversion related proteins, followed by photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism associated enzymes. Analysis of protein expression patters revealed that energy production and ion homeostasis associated proteins played important roles for this plant salt tolerance ability. Hierarchical clustering results revealed many proteins were involved in S. europaea salt tolerance mechanism as a dynamic network. Finally, based on our proteomic results, we brought forward a possible schematic representation of mechanism associated with the systematic salt tolerance phenotype in S. europaea.

Protein extraction from plants like the halophyte Salicornia europaea has been problematic using standard protocols due to high concentrations of salt ions in their cells. We have developed an improved method for protein extraction from S. europaea, which allowed us to remove interfering compounds and salt ions by including the chemicals borax, polyvinylpolypyrrolidone, and phenol. The comparative study of this method with several other protocols using NaCl-treated S. europaea shoots demonstrated that this method gave the best distinction of proteins on 2-DE gels. This protocol had a wide range of applications as high yields and good distinction of 1-DE gels for proteins isolated from twelve other plants were rendered. In addition, we reported results of 2-DE using the recalcitrant tissue of the S. europaea roots. We also demonstrated that this protocol is compatible with proteomic analysis as eight specific proteins generated by this method have been identified by MS. In conclusion, our newly developed protein extraction protocol is expected to have excellent applications in proteomic studies of halophytes.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential mineral nutrient for plant growth and development. Low availability of inorganic phosphate (orthophosphate; Pi) in soil seriously restricts the crop production, while excessive fertilization has caused environmental pollution. Pi acquisition and homeostasis depend on transport processes controlled Pi transporters, which are grouped into five families so far: PHT1, PHT2, PHT3, PHT4, and PHT5. This review summarizes the current understanding on plant PHT families, including phylogenetic analysis, function, and regulation. The potential application of Pi transporters and the related regulatory factors for developing genetically modified crops with high phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) are also discussed in this review. At last, we provide some potential strategies for developing high PUE crops under salt or drought stress conditions, which can be valuable for improving crop yields challenged by global scarcity of water resources and increasing soil salinization.