• Apocynum venetum L. is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb with great potential to treat angiocardiopathy. Its major medicinal constituents are flavonoids. However, the natural habitats of A. venetum are typically affected by salt stress, which can modify both biomass and accumulation of medicinal compounds.
• In this study, the effects of salt stress on growth and development of A. venetum, accumulation of flavonoids and expression patterns of genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis were evaluated.
• In general, the growth and development of seedlings (seedling height, root length, leaf length, leaf width and seed germination) were inhibited by salt stress. Unlike typical halophytes, there was no optimal NaCl concentration range that promoted growth and development, but seedlings had an elevated DW/FW ratio under salt stress (induced by irrigation with 50, 100, 200 or 400 mm NaCl). Furthermore, quercetin and kaempferol were significantly accumulated in A. venetum seedlings under salt stress, resulting in a balanced content and reduced FW. Moreover, the expression of AvCHS, AvCHI and AvF3GT was inhibited by salt stress; however, AvF3’H, AvF3H and AvFLS, which are involved in the flavonol synthesis pathway, were up‐regulated under salt stress, consistent with a decrease in total flavonoids and an increase of flavonols (quercetin and kaempferol).
• In summary, cultivation of A. venetum in saline soils appeared to be feasible and improved the medicinal quality of A. venetum (quercetin and kaempferol accumulation under salt stress), thus this species can effectively utilize saline soil resources.

中文翻译：

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盐胁迫降低了罗布麻中幼苗的生长和发育，但增加了槲皮素和山emp酚的含量。

• 罗布麻是一种传统中草药，具有治疗心血管疾病的巨大潜力。它的主要药用成分是类黄酮。但是，A。venetum的自然栖息地通常会受到盐胁迫的影响，这会改变生物量和药用化合物的积累。
• 在这项研究中，评估了盐胁迫对A. venetum生长和发育，类黄酮积累和类黄酮生物合成相关基因表达模式的影响。
• 通常，盐胁迫会抑制幼苗的生长和发育（幼苗高度，根长，叶长，叶宽和种子发芽）。与典型的盐生植物不同，没有最佳的NaCl浓度范围促进生长和发育，但在盐胁迫下（通过用50、100、200或400 m m NaCl灌溉诱导），幼苗的DW / FW比升高。此外，槲皮素和山emp酚在盐胁迫下显着积累在A. venetum幼苗中，导致平衡含量并降低了FW。此外，盐胁迫抑制了AvCHS，AvCHI和AvF3GT的表达。但是，AvF3'H，AvF3H和参与黄酮醇合成途径的AvFLS在盐胁迫下被上调，与总黄酮减少和黄酮醇（槲皮素和山and酚）增加一致。
• 总之，培养一个。 盐渍土壤中的苦瓜似乎是可行的，并提高了A的药用质量。 罗布麻（盐胁迫下槲皮素和山奈酚累积），因此该物质可有效地利用盐土资源。