Garlic (Allium sativum L.) is an economically important vegetable crop which is used worldwide for culinary and medicinal purposes. Soil salinity constrains the yield components of garlic. Understanding the responsive mechanism of garlic to salinity is crucial to improve its tolerance. To address this problem, two garlic cultivars differing in salt tolerance were used to investigate the long-term adaptive responses to salt stress at phenotype and transcriptome levels. Phenotypic analysis showed four-week salt stress significantly decreased the yield components of salt-sensitive cultivar. Transcriptomes of garlics were de novo assembled and mined for transcriptional activities regulated by salt stress. The results showed that photosynthesis, energy allocation, and secondary metabolism were commonly enriched in both sensitive and tolerant genotypes. Moreover, distinct responsive patterns were also observed between the two genotypes. Compared with the salt-tolerant genotype, most transcripts encoding enzymes in the phenylpropanoid biosynthesis pathway were coordinately down regulated in the salt-sensitive genotype, resulting in alternation of the content and composition of lignin. Meanwhile, transcripts encoding the enzymes in the brassinosteroid (BR) biosynthesis pathway were also systematically down regulated in the salt-sensitive genotypes. Taken together, these results suggested that BR-mediated lignin accumulation possibly plays an important role in garlic adaption to salt stress. These findings expand the understanding of responsive mechanism of garlic to salt stress.

大蒜（蒜属大蒜）是一种经济上重要的蔬菜作物，在世界范围内都用于烹饪和药用。土壤盐分限制了大蒜的产量。了解大蒜对盐分的响应机制对于提高其耐受性至关重要。为了解决这个问题，两个耐盐性不同的大蒜品种被用来研究在表型和转录组水平上对盐胁迫的长期适应性反应。表型分析表明，四周盐胁迫显着降低了盐敏感品种的产量构成。大蒜转录组从头开始组装并开采受盐胁迫调控的转录活性。结果表明，光合作用，能量分配和次生代谢通常富含敏感和耐受的基因型。而且，在两种基因型之间也观察到了不同的响应模式。与耐盐基因型相比，苯丙类生物合成途径中编码酶的大多数转录本在盐敏感基因型中均被协调性下调，从而导致木质素含量和组成发生变化。同时，在盐敏感性基因型中，油菜素类固醇（BR）生物合成途径中编码酶的转录本也被系统下调。在一起 这些结果表明BR介导的木质素积累可能在大蒜对盐胁迫的适应中起重要作用。这些发现扩大了对大蒜对盐胁迫响应机制的认识。