Tolerância de genótipos de Vigna unguiculata ao estresse salino: integração dos mecanismos moleculares, fisiológicos e bioquímicos

Abstract

Agricultural production has become a challenge in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, as a result of the constant incidence of adverse environmental factors, such as abiotic stresses. Among them, the excess of salts in the soil is characterized by severely limiting the growth and development of the plants, causing serious damages due to the low yield of the crops. In this scenario, the selection of cultivars tolerant to salinity and / or genetic engineering of plants emerge as strategies of great importance. However, because stress tolerance is a multigenic phenomenon, the selection / identification of metabolic pathways, molecular markers and potential gene products constitute a challenge for studies on saline stress in plants. The present research was developed with the objective of integrating the molecular, biochemical and physiological mechanisms involved in the tolerance of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) plants to saline stress. For this, plants of two genotypes of V. unguiculata endowed with differential tolerance to saline stress, Pitiúba and TVU, were used as experimental model. Saline stress promoted severe reductions in plant growth of both genotypes; however, increased biomass production under salinity was observed in TVU genotypes throughout the experimental period (8 and 16 days). The best performance of the TVU plants was attributed to the higher efficiency of the photosynthetic machinery, evidenced by the higher CO2 assimilation rates and by the higher photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (↑ electron transport rate - ETR and ↑ photochemical quenching - qP). In addition, in the presence of NaCl, the high photosynthetic efficiency coincided with the higher pigment content involved in the energy absorption of both chlorophyll a, b and total as well as carotenoids. Such responses were accompanied by increases in the expression of the PGR5-like protein 1A, HEMA (Glutamyl-tRNA reductase-binding protein), Light-harvesting complex I chlorophyll, as well as several structural genes of the thylakoidal CTE. TVU plants also limited the excessive accumulation of Na + in the stems and leaves and, consequently, established a higher K + / Na + ratio under stress. The results suggest that the control of ionic homeostasis was due to the efficient activation of defense routes, involving mechanisms of exclusion and Na + compartmentalization, since there was an increase in the expression of genes encoding SOS route components and V-ATPase genes. In addition, lower oxidative damages (↓ MDA) were observed in plant tissues of the TVU genotype, a result of the effective action of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants. The higher activity of the SOD, APX and GPX enzymes was correlated with the expression of the DEAD-box and Glutathione peroxidase genes. In this genotype, genes involved in auxin signaling (IAA), jasmonic acid (JA), gibberellins (GA), ethylene (ETHY), abscisic acid (ABA), H2O2, CIPK (CIPK3 and CIPK14) and innumerable transcription factors for example WRKY, MYB and bZIP) may have operated in the intricate network of responses that culminated in greater tolerance to salt stress. In contrast, the higher sensitivity of the Pitiúba genotype to saline stress was associated with the lower efficiency of the photosynthetic machinery and the excessive accumulation of toxic ions in the aerial tissues. Under salinity, decreases in CO2 assimilation rates were due to severe damage to the photosynthetic apparatus, since the maximum quantum efficiency of PSII (Fv / Fm) was seriously compromised shortly after the onset of stress, and this effect was intensified with the imposition of saline treatment. Associated with this, there was a progressive reduction in the effective quantum efficiency of the PSII (φPSII), which was accompanied by decreases in the ETR, as well as by the greater non-photochemical dissipation of electrons, especially in the last times of analysis. Another determinant factor for the lower efficiency of the photosynthetic machinery was the low accumulation of photosynthetic pigments, which probably resulted in the accumulation of energy in PSII and the higher production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This phenomenon may have caused damage to cell membranes (↑ MDA), which intensified the degradation of the photosynthetic pigments and other structural components of the photosystems. As a result of the lower photochemical efficiency, photosynthetic rates (CO2 assimilation) were seriously compromised by salinity, which consequently restricted plant growth. The results of RNAseq demonstrated that Pitiúba plants also triggered an arsenal of genes in response to stress, including those focused on the control of ionic and redox homeostasis, photosystem repair, hormones, transcription factors, among others. However, such mechanisms were not sufficient to mitigate the deleterious effects of NaCl and the plants were highly sensitive to salt stress. In the present study, the main metabolic pathways involved in the tolerance to salinity of V. unguiculata plants were identified, as well as potential genes for genetic improvement studies.