Metabolic and gene expression changes in higher plants in response to salt stress
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Abstract
Salinity limits agricultural production. The detrimental effects of salinity result from both the water deficit and the specific action of ions. Salt stress initiates molecular events involving the change of expression of unique genes and genes functioning in normal cell metabolism. Exposure of detached tomato leaves to high NaCl concentration (12 g/L, 12 h) resulted in a significant increase in activity and protein ferredoxin-dependent glutamate synthase. This increase may be explained by the role of this enzyme in the synthesis of glutamate required for the proline synthesis occurring under salt stress in this plant tissue. On the other hand, NaCl shock of tobacco cells adapted to 428 mM NaCl induced a two-fold increase in the level of a messenger RNA encoding for a putative endoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺-ATPase. This change may be related to the maintenance of ion homeostasis in tobacco cells, which is critical for their adaptation to a saline environment. The changes reported for tomato and tobacco constitute partial aspects of the complex plant response to salt stress.
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