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Goji (Lycium barbarum L.) berry, also known as wolfberry, belongs to the Solanaceous family. Dried goji berry is a famous traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has been used for more than 2,300 years in China (Jin, Huang, Zhao, & Shang, 2013). It is now widely distributed in northwestern China, the Himalayas, Mongolia (Potterat, 2010), southeastern Europe, and the Mediterranean region (Redgwell et al., 2011). Goji berry is considered as the latest super fruit and widely accepted as a functional food. It can reduce blood glucose and serum lipids, nourish eyes, kidneys, and liver, improve immunity, and enhance hematopoiesis, playing pivotal roles in anti-fatigue, anti-aging, anti-radiation, and anti-cancer (Tang, Chen, Wang, & Sun, 2015). This is largely attributed to its rich nutrients including polysaccharides, flavonoids, carotenoids, amino acids, mineral elements, vitamins, and betaine (Amagase & Farnsworth, 2011).

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Suaeda salsa is the pioneer halophyte in the Yellow River Delta and was consumed as a popular vegetable. Mercury has become a highly risky contaminant in the sediment of intertidal zones of the Yellow River Delta. In this work, we investigated the interactive effects of mercury and selenium in S. salsa on the basis of metabolic profiling, antioxidant enzyme activities and gene expression quantification. Our results showed that mercury exposure (20 μg L(-1)) inhibited plant growth of S. salsa and induced significant metabolic responses and altered expression levels of INPS, CMO, and MDH in S. salsa samples, together with the increased activities of antioxidant enzymes including SOD and POD. Overall, these results indicated osmotic and oxidative stresses, disturbed protein degradation and energy metabolism change in S. salsa after mercury exposures. Additionally, the addition of selenium could induce both antagonistic and synergistic effects including alleviating protein degradation and aggravating osmotic stress caused by mercury.