Characterization of Differentially Expressed Genes under Salt Stress in Olive

Abstract

Climate change, currently taking place worldwide and also in the Mediterranean area, is leading to a reduction in water availability and to groundwater salinization. Olive represents one of the most efficient tree crops to face these scenarios, thanks to its natural ability to tolerate moderate salinity and drought. In the present work, four olive cultivars (Koroneiki, Picual, Royal de Cazorla and Fadak86) were exposed to high salt stress conditions (200 mM of NaCl) in greenhouse, in order to evaluate their tolerance level and to identify key genes involved in salt stress response. Molecular and physiological parameters, as well as plant growth and leaves’ ions Na+ and K+ content were measured. Results of the physiological measurements showed Royal de Cazorla as the most tolerant cultivar, and Fadak86 and Picual as the most susceptible ones. Ten candidate genes were analyzed and their complete genomic, CDS and protein sequences were identified. The expression analysis of their transcripts through reverse transcriptase quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) demonstrated that only OeNHX7, OeP5CS, OeRD19A and OePetD were upregulated in tolerant cultivars, thus suggesting their key role in the activation of a salt tolerance mechanism.

Enhancing the Biological Control of Mite Species Infesting Olive Trees through Application of Predatory Mite Agistemus exsertus Gonzalez (Acari: Stigmaeidae) and Eco‐Friendly Natural Compounds

“…The expression of the stress‐related genes ( OePOD , OeP5CS , OeRD19A and OeNHX7 ) was investigated in the infested olive trees treated with MT, GB and ALA using quantitative real‐time PCR as reported by Mousavi et al . (2022) with slight modifications. In brief, total RNA was isolated from leaves, and cDNA was synthesized.…”

“…The analyses were carried out using Qiagen QuantiTect SYBR Green PCR kit. Gene-specific primers previously designed were used in the amplification process (Dastkar et al, 2020;Mousavi et al 2022). ACTIN gene was utilized as an internal reference control (Dastkar et al, 2020).…”

Cold stress resilience of Iranian olive genetic resources: evidence from autochthonous genotypes diversity

“…Cold stress is a major issue for olive trees, as it can have significant impacts on tree growth, flowering, productivity, and olive oil quality. Olive trees are well adapted to warm Mediterranean climates ( Melgar et al., 2009 ; Ponti et al., 2014 ; Mousavi et al., 2019 ; Mousavi et al., 2022 ) but are susceptible to low temperatures, especially to out-of-season ones and can be damaged irreversibly. Previous studies have shown that low temperatures can result in a range of morphological, physiological, and biochemical changes in olive trees, including changes in the concentration of plant hormones, photosynthesis, and antioxidant defense systems ( Gómez-del-Campo and Barranco, 2005 ; Arias et al., 2015 and Lodolini et al., 2016 ; Arias et al., 2017 ; Mougiou et al., 2020 ).…”

Genome-wide transcriptomic analysis identifies candidate genes involved in jasmonic acid-mediated salt tolerance of alfalfa

“…Plants initiate genome-wide transcriptional regulation to cope with salt stress. Genes related to osmotic adjustment, ion transport, and antioxidant are up- or down-regulated by salt stress ( Gupta & Huang, 2014 ; Mousavi et al, 2021 ). For example, plants deploy some low-molecular-weight osmolytes such as proline, to mitigate the adverse effects of salt stress on cell osmoticum ( Mansour & Ali, 2017 ; Yang & Guo, 2018 ).…”