Soil salinity is an abiotic stress that reduces agricultural productivity. For decades, halophytes have been studied to elucidate the physiological and biochemical processes involved in alleviating cellular ionic imbalance and conferring salt tolerance. Recently, several interesting genes with proven influence on salt tolerance were isolated from the Mediterranean halophyte Lobularia maritima (L.) Desv. A better understanding of salt response in this species is needed to exploit its potential as a source of stress-related genes. We report the characterisation of L. maritima’s response to increasing NaCl concentrations (100–400 mM) at the physiological, biochemical and molecular levels. L. maritima growth was unaffected by salinity up to 100 mM NaCl and it was able to survive at 400 mM NaCl without exhibiting visual symptoms of damage. Lobularia maritima showed a Na⁺ and K⁺ accumulation pattern typical of a salt-includer halophyte, with higher contents of Na⁺ in the leaves and K⁺ in the roots of salt-treated plants. The expression profiles of NHX1, SOS1, HKT1, KT1 and VHA-E1 in salt-treated plants matched this Na⁺ and K⁺ accumulation pattern, suggesting an important role for these transporters in the regulation of ion homeostasis in leaves and roots of L. maritima. A concomitant stimulation in phenolic biosynthesis and antioxidant enzyme activity was observed under moderate salinity, suggesting a potential link between the production of polyphenolic antioxidants and protection against salt stress in L. maritima. Our findings indicate that the halophyte L. maritima can rapidly develop physiological and antioxidant mechanisms to adapt to salt and manage oxidative stress.

土壤盐分是一种非生物胁迫，会降低农业生产力。数十年来，对盐生植物进行了研究，以阐明与减轻细胞离子失衡和赋予盐耐受性有关的生理和生化过程。最近，从地中海盐生植物Lobularia maritima（L.）Desv中分离出了几个对盐耐性具有有效影响的有趣基因。需要更好地了解该物种中的盐反应，以利用其作为胁迫相关基因的来源的潜力。我们报告的表征L. maritima的的响应于在生理，生化和分子水平增加的NaCl浓度（100-400毫米）。滨海乳杆菌高达100 mM NaCl的盐度不会影响其生长，并且能够在400 mM NaCl下生存而不会表现出可见的损害症状。滨海金枪鱼表现出典型的含盐盐生植物Na ⁺和K ⁺积累模式，其中盐分植物的叶中Na ⁺和根系中的K ⁺含量较高。的表达谱NHX1，SOS1，HKT1，KT1和VHA - E1在盐处理的植物匹配这个娜⁺和K ⁺积累模式，这表明这些转运蛋白在调节滨海乳酸杆菌叶和根中离子稳态中的重要作用。在中等盐度下观察到了酚类生物合成和抗氧化酶活性的同时刺激，这表明了多酚抗氧化剂的生产与海盐乳杆菌对盐胁迫的保护之间的潜在联系。我们的发现表明，盐生植物L. maritima可以快速发展生理和抗氧化机制，以适应盐分并控制氧化应激。