Effects of Exogenous Trehalose on the Metabolism of Sugar and Abscisic Acid in Tomato Seedlings Under Salt Stress

Abstract

Salt stress affects the growth and development of plants, which results in a decrease in crop quality and yield. In this study, we used tomato seedlings treated with salt and trehalose as experimental materials and analyzed them using the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution analysis to select the optimal trehalose concentration for treatment. We also determined the contents of sugar and abscisic acid (ABA) and detected the expression of genes involved in the metabolism of sugar and ABA by quantitative real-time PCR. Results showed that the optimal trehalose concentration was 2 mmol/L for tomato seedlings under salt stress. Exogenous trehalose decreased the starch content and increased the soluble sugar content by affecting the expression of genes related to the metabolism of starch and soluble sugar. Exogenous trehalose altered the accumulation and distribution of sugar by inducing the upregulation of sugar transporter genes. Furthermore, trehalose increased the ABA content to induce salt stress response by regulating the expression of genes related to the synthesis and metabolism of ABA. In conclusion, trehalose can effectively alleviate salt stress and enhance salt tolerance of tomato. These findings provide a novel perspective and a better resource to investigate the salt tolerance mechanism and a new method for alleviating salt stress in tomato.

Physiological and Transcriptomic Analyses Reveal Exogenous Trehalose Is Involved in the Responses of Wheat Roots to High Temperature Stress

“…Consistent with previous studies that trehalose could effectively alleviate the inhibitory effect of abiotic stress on plants [15][16][17], the present study showed that the application of trehalose can maintain the phenotypic properties of wheat roots, endow them with more robust vitality, and help them resist heat stress, but this characteristic is more obvious in Yangmai 18 than Yannong 19 (Figure 1). During abiotic stress (ultraviolet and heat stress, etc.…”

“…Under cold stress, exogenous trehalose significantly increased the maximum quantum yield of PSII, the antioxidant enzyme activity, and endogenous H 2 O 2 and NO levels, thus stimulating the response of melon to cold stress [16]. Tomato seedlings treated with 2 mmol/L trehalose can regulate the expression of genes related to ABA synthesis and enhance the salt tolerance of tomatoes [17]. Although the current research has shown that exogenous trehalose has excellent research value in improving plant stress resistance, there are few studies on the molecular mechanism of exogenous trehalose in response to abiotic stress.…”

Imperative role of trehalose metabolism and trehalose‐6‐phosphate signaling on salt stress responses in plants

“…Alla et al (2019) found that soaking wheat grains in trehalose decreased the levels of H 2 O 2 and lipid peroxides. Exogenous trehalose contributed to the accumulation of sucrose, indicating that it may induce an increase in photosynthesis rate, which was consistent with the aforementioned results showing that exogenous trehalose increased the content of photosynthetic pigments (Feng et al, 2019). In addition,…”

Exogenous Serotonin Improves Salt Tolerance in Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) Seedlings

“…Salinity severely inhibits plant growth, and it is important to improve stress tolerance of crops [25,26]. Therefore, the effects of exogenous serotonin on rapeseed seedlings under salinity were studied in this study.…”