A laser ablation technique maps differences in elemental composition in roots of two barley cultivars subjected to salinity stress

Abstract

Summary In saline soils, high levels of sodium (Na+) and chloride (Cl−) ions reduce root growth by inhibiting cell division and elongation, thereby impacting on crop yield. Soil salinity can lead to Na+ toxicity of plant cells, influencing the uptake and retention of other important ions [i.e. potassium (K+)] required for growth. However, measuring and quantifying soluble ions in their native, cellular environment is inherently difficult. Technologies that allow in situ profiling of plant tissues are fundamental for our understanding of abiotic stress responses and the development of tolerant crops. Here, we employ laser ablation‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) to quantify Na, K and other elements [calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulphur (S), phosphorus (P), iron (Fe)] at high spatial resolution in the root growth zone of two genotypes of barley (Hordeum vulgare) that differ in salt‐tolerance, cv. Clipper (tolerant) and Sahara (sensitive). The data show that Na+ was excluded from the meristem and cell division zone, indicating that Na+ toxicity is not directly reducing cell division in the salt‐sensitive genotype, Sahara. Interestingly, in both genotypes, K+ was strongly correlated with Na+ concentration, in response to salt stress. In addition, we also show important genetic differences and salt‐specific changes in elemental composition in the root growth zone. These results show that LA‐ICP‐MS can be used for fine mapping of soluble ions (i.e. Na+ and K+) in plant tissues, providing insight into the link between Na+ toxicity and root growth responses to salt stress.

Temporal and environmental factors interact with rootstock genotype to shape leaf elemental composition in grafted grapevines

“…Rather, leaves rapidly shifted from early season transcriptional profiles to late season transcriptional profiles (Harris et al, 2021). However, current results suggest a unique elemental signature of veraison in "Cham- (Luo et al, 2016;Sardans et al, 2015), studies that compared sites without focus on environmental differences (Asaro et al, 2016;Shakoor et al, 2016), and studies that manipulated the plant's local environment (e.g., irrigation or salt treatments) (Chavarria et al, 2020;Shelden et al, 2020;Temme et al, 2019;Urbina et al, 2015). Often, effects from these studies tended to be with large influence from phylogeny (Neugebauer et al, 2018).…”

“…Our study builds on previous studies by examining leaf elemental composition with paired, real‐time features of the above‐ground environment. Most studies that have examined the influence of the environment on elemental composition have fallen into one of three categories: studies that analyzed large‐scale climatic features (such as annual rainfall) (Luo et al, 2016 ; Sardans et al, 2015 ), studies that compared sites without focus on environmental differences (Asaro et al, 2016 ; Shakoor et al, 2016 ), and studies that manipulated the plant's local environment (e.g., irrigation or salt treatments) (Chavarria et al, 2020 ; Shelden et al, 2020 ; Temme et al, 2019 ; Urbina et al, 2015 ). Often, effects from these studies tended to be variable with large influence from phylogeny (Neugebauer et al, 2018 ).…”

Evaluating Variation in Germination and Growth of Landraces of Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Under Salinity Stress

“…However, it was possible to identify lines that showed high rates of root growth in both medium and high salinities, some due to having high levels of root growth in control conditions, such as Floye, and others despite not, such as Bere 49 A 27 Shetland. The latter of these are of most interesting as it has been shown that the maintenance of root elongation, in saline conditions that inhibit the normal shoot growth of the seedling, is indicative of an adaptive method to safeguard uptake of nutrients and water ( Shelden et al, 2020 ), with other experiments showing salinity tolerant lines having shorter roots in control conditions but maintaining them in saline conditions ( Adjel et al, 2013 ; Nefissi Ouertani et al, 2021 ).…”

Temporal and environmental factors interact with rootstock genotype to shape leaf elemental composition in grafted grapevines

“…Our study builds on previous studies by examining leaf elemental composition with paired, realtime features of the above-ground environment. Most studies that have examined the influence of the environment on elemental composition have fallen into one of three categories: studies that analyzed large-scale climatic features (such as annual rainfall) (Sardans et al, 2015; Luo et al, 2016), studies that compared sites without focus on environmental differences (Asaro et al, 2016; Shakoor et al, 2016), and studies that manipulated the plant’s local environment (e.g., irrigation or salt treatments) (Urbina et al, 2015; Temme et al, 2019; Chavarria et al, 2020; Shelden et al, 2020). Often, effects from these studies tended to be variable with large influence from phylogeny (Neugebauer et al, 2018).…”