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Involvement of salicylic acid in cold priming-induced freezing tolerance in wheat plants

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Abstract

Freezing is one of the most damaging abiotic stress factors. Cold priming has been shown to enhance freezing tolerance in wheat. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Salicylic acid (SA) is an important signal molecule involved in plant responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. This study aims to investigate the role of SA in cold priming-induced freezing tolerance in wheat plants. The results showed that the expression of gene encoding phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, a key enzyme involved in SA biosynthesis) and the level of endogenous SA (both free and conjugated) were significantly up-regulated following cold priming treatment. The role of SA in cold priming-induced freezing tolerance was further explored using the donor and inhibitor of endogenous SA. l-α-aminooxy-β-phenylpropionic acid (AOPP, a specific inhibitor of PAL) pretreatment reversed the increment of SA level induced by cold priming treatment, attenuated the positive effects of cold priming on antioxidant capacity (as indicated by the contents of MDA, ASA and GSH, and the activities of APX, GR, DHAR and MDHAR) and cold-responsive genes expression (such as AOX1a, IRI2 and HSP70) under the later freezing stress as well as the freezing tolerance (as indicated by the photochemical activity, electrolyte leakage and biomass). The application of exogenous SA could obviously counteract the negative effects of AOPP. Findings of the present study suggested that the roles of SA in cold priming-induced freezing tolerance in wheat might involve regulation of antioxidant capacity and cold-responsive gene expression.

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Abbreviations

APX:

Ascorbate peroxidase

AOPP:

l-α-aminooxy-β-phenylpropionic acid

AOX:

Alternative oxidase

ASA:

Ascorbate acid

CBF/DREB:

C-repeat binding factor/dehydration responsive element binding protein

COR:

Cold regulated

DHAR:

Dehydroascorbic acid reductase

Fv′/Fm′:

The efficiency of excitation energy capture by open PSII reaction centres

GR:

Glutathione reductase

GSH:

Reduced glutathione

IRI:

Ice recrystallization inhibition

HSP:

Heat shock protein

ICS:

Isochorismate synthase

MDA:

Malonaldehyde

MDHAR:

Monodehydroascorbate reductase

PAL:

Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SA:

Salicylic acid

SAGT:

SA glucosyltransferase

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0300107, 2018YFD0300800), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31771693, U1803235), Jiangsu Provincial Key Research and Development Program (BE2018362, BE2019377), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (KYZ201807), the China Agriculture Research System (CARS-03), and Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Crop Production (JCIC-MCP), and the 111 Project (B16026). We also thank Prof. Shui-zhang Fei (Iowa State University, USA), Prof. Rajeev Arora (Iowa State University, USA), Prof. Tingbo Dai (Nanjing Agricultural University, China), and Mr. Guangshuai Jiang (Nanjing Agricultural University, China) for their suggestions on manuscript writing and experimental design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Technique Innovation Center for Regional Wheat Production/Key Laboratory of Crop Physiology, Ecology and Production, MOA/National Engineering and Technology Center for Information Agriculture, Nanjing Agricultural University, No. 1 Weigang Road, Nanjing, 210095, China

    Weiling Wang, Xiao Wang, Xinyu Zhang, Yao Wang, Mei Huang, Jian Cai, Qin Zhou & Dong Jiang

  2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Physiology/Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center for Modern Production Technology of Grain Crops/Agricultural College, Yangzhou University, No. 88 Daxue South Road, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Weiling Wang & Zhongyang Huo

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  1. Weiling Wang
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  2. Xiao Wang
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Correspondence to Dong Jiang.

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Wang, W., Wang, X., Zhang, X. et al. Involvement of salicylic acid in cold priming-induced freezing tolerance in wheat plants. Plant Growth Regul 93, 117–130 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-020-00671-8

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