Plant Adaptation to Multiple Stresses during Submergence and Following Desubmergence

Abstract

Plants require water for growth and development, but excessive water negatively affects their productivity and viability. Flash floods occasionally result in complete submergence of plants in agricultural and natural ecosystems. When immersed in water, plants encounter multiple stresses including low oxygen, low light, nutrient deficiency, and high risk of infection. As floodwaters subside, submerged plants are abruptly exposed to higher oxygen concentration and greater light intensity, which can induce post-submergence injury caused by oxidative stress, high light, and dehydration. Recent studies have emphasized the significance of multiple stress tolerance in the survival of submergence and prompt recovery following desubmergence. A mechanistic understanding of acclimation responses to submergence at molecular and physiological levels can contribute to the deciphering of the regulatory networks governing tolerance to other environmental stresses that occur simultaneously or sequentially in the natural progress of a flood event.

The study of plant adaptation to oxygen deficiency in Saint Petersburg University

“…Two major adaptive responses, LOES and LOQS, are primarily governed by the multigenic SNORKEL (SK) and SUBMERGENCE-1 (SUB1) loci, respectively, both of which encode ERFVIIs (Bailey-Serres and Voesenek, 2008;Nishiuchi et al, 2012;Banti et al, 2013;Tamang and Fukao, 2015;Voesenek and Bailey-Serres, 2015;Hu et al, 2016). The SNORKEL locus encodes the two ERF-VII genes.…”

“…On the other hand, the Sub1C gene is upregulated by submergence, ethylene and GA, and it stimulates shoot elongation in LOES rice. In quiescenttolerant rice cultivars, Sub1C is repressed by Sub1A (Fukao, Xu, Ronald, and Bailey-Serres, 2006;Tamang and Fukao, 2015). Sub1A was reported to increase the accumulation of the signaling proteins Slender Rice-1 (SLR1) and SLR1 Like-1 (SLRL1), which repress GA signaling (Fukao and Bailey-Serres 2008), possibly via stimulation of brassinosteroid signaling pathway and with transcriptional activation of GA2ox7, which catabolizes GA, thus reducing the levels of endogenous active GAs (Schmitz et al, 2013).…”

“…Fast reentry of oxygen results in oxidation of reduced intermediate and end-products that accumulated during preceding anoxia, soil toxins (Cu + , Fe 2+ , Mn 2+ ), overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and toxic oxidative products (Crawford, 1989;Vartapetian and Jackson, 1997), leading finally to large-scale oxidative post-anoxic stress. Unexpected exposure to higher light may induce photooxidative damage to the photosynthetic apparatus (Tamang and Fukao, 2015). Desiccation of the aboveground part of the plant following reoxygenation is also observed.…”

“…Moreover, reestablishment of normoxic conditions triggers oxidation of these substances and synthesis of reactive oxygen, nitrogen, carbonyl and sulfur species resulting in post-anoxic injury. The growth of plants is particularly sensitive to oxygen deficiency, with root elongation greater than shoot elongation (reviewed in Chirkova, 1968aChirkova, , 1988aChirkova, , 1988bChirkova, , 1998Crawford and Braendle, 1996;Drew, 1997;Vartapetian and Jackson, 1997;Bailey-Serres and Voesenek, 2008;Licausi and Perata, 2009;Tamang and Fukao, 2015;Voesenek and Bailey-Serres, 2015). In plants under conditions of limited aeration, the roots are shortened, thickened, and do not form a sufficient number of root hairs.…”

“…Other submergence tolerant species, on the contrary, limit underwater elongation growth via a Low-Oxygen Quiescence Syndrome (LOQS). These plants react to flooding mostly by metabolic switches which are particularly rigorous under strict lack of oxygen (Chirkova, 1988a(Chirkova, ,b, 1998Armstrong, Brändle, and Jackson, 1994;Crawford and Braendle, 1996;Bailey-Serres and Voesenek, 2008;Licausi and Perata, 2009;Tamang and Fukao, 2015;Voesenek and Bailey-Serres, 2015).…”