Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 3;25(1):848.
doi: 10.1186/s12870-025-06858-3.

Physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic analyses reveal potential candidate genes of Platostoma palustre in response to salt stress

Changqian Quan  1   2 , Suhua Huang  3 , Qiaoling Yu  3 , Zhining Chen  4 , Muhammad Haneef Kashif  5 , Meihua Xu  1   2 , Fan Wei  1   2 , Danfeng Tang  6   7
Affiliations

Physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic analyses reveal potential candidate genes of Platostoma palustre in response to salt stress

Changqian Quan et al. BMC Plant Biol. .

Abstract

Background: Salt stress poses a genuine threat to plants, impeding their growth, development, and yields. Platostoma palustre (Blume) A.J.Paton (P. palustre) is an important medicinal plant in tropical and subtropical regions; however, the molecular mechanisms underlying P. palustre response to salt stress remain poorly understood. To better understand the molecular response of P. palustre plants to salt stress, we employed an integrated approach based on physiological, biochemical, and transcriptomic analyses.

Results: In this study, salt stress significantly restrained the growth of P. palustre and led to the accumulation of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, and CAT). Besides, the chlorophyll content significantly decreased with the increase in NaCl concentration. Transcriptomic analysis revealed 8,679 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (4,334 were up-regulated and 4,363 were down-regulated) between control (CK) and salt stress (150 mM NaCl). KEGG enrichment analysis showed that these DEGs were significantly enriched in "plant hormone signal transduction", "MAPK signaling pathway-plant", "photosynthesis - antenna proteins", "starch and sucrose metabolism", etc. Among the DEGs, 409 DEGs were identified as transcription factors (TFs), belonging to 25 families including MYB_superfamily, AP2/ERF, C2C2, bHLH, NAC, WRKY, and so on. In KEGG enrichment analysis of the identified TFs, 13 showed significant enrichment in "plant hormone signal transduction". Notably, EIN3 (TRINITY_DN3357_c1_g2) and ERF1 (TRINITY_DN8842_c0_g1) involved in the ethylene (ETH) signaling were suggested potential candidates for salt stress response in P. palustre.

Conclusions: This study unravels key salt-responsive genes in P. palustre, facilitating the development of salinity-resistance varieties.

Keywords: Platostoma palustre (Blume) A.J.Paton; ETH signaling; MAPK signaling pathway; Plant hormone signal transduction; Salt stress; Transcriptomic analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: All our experiments have complied with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines and legislation. Plants of P. palustre were provided by Guangxi Key Laboratory of Medicinal Resources Protection and Genetic Improvement, Nanning, China. The plant materials don’t include any wild species at risk of extinction. We comply with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines and legislation for plant study. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Agronomic characters of P. palustre plants under normal (CK) and salt stress (50 mM, 100 mM and 150 mM) conditions. (A)The plants under different growth conditions. (B) plant height. (C) whole plant fresh weight. (D) root fresh weight. Values are means ± SE (n = 10). Different letters indicate the significant difference at the 0.05 level))
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Biochemical indexes of P. palustre plants under normal (CK) and salt stress (50 mM, 100 mM and 150 mM) conditions. (A) total chlorophyll. (B) chlorophyll a. (C) chlorophyll b. (D) SOD. (E) POD. (F) CAT. Values are means ± SE (n = 3). Different letters indicate the significant difference at the 0.05 level
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) statistics and functional enrichment analysis. (A) DEGs statistics. (B) GO enrichment analysis of DEGs. (C) KEGG enrichment analysis of DEGs. (D) KEGG enrichment analysis of differentially expressed transcription factor (TFs)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
TFs involved in “plant hormone signal transduction” pathway. The copyright permission has been obtained from Kanehisa Laboratories to use and modify the KEGG image
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
DEGs involved in “porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism” pathway. The copyright permission has been obtained from Kanehisa Laboratories to use and modify the KEGG image
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
DEGs involved in “photosynthesis - antenna proteins” pathway. The copyright permission has been obtained from Kanehisa Laboratories to use and modify the KEGG image
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
DEGs involved in “photosynthesis” pathway. The copyright permission has been obtained from Kanehisa Laboratories to use and modify the KEGG image
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Heatmap of DEGs involved in “MAPK signaling pathway-plant” pathway
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Heatmap of DEGs involved in “plant hormone signal transduction” pathway
Fig. 10
Fig. 10
A Venn analysis of DEGs involved in “MAPK signaling pathway-plant” and “plant hormone signal transduction” pathways. B Venn analysis of DEGs shared by “MAPK signaling pathway-plant” and “plant hormone signal transduction” pathways and differentially expressed TFs. C The roles of 35 shared DEGs in “plant hormone signal transduction” pathway. The copyright permission has been obtained from Kanehisa Laboratories to use and modify the KEGG image
Fig. 11
Fig. 11
DEGs involved in ethylene (ETH) signaling. The copyright permission has been obtained from Kanehisa Laboratories to use and modify the KEGG image
Fig. 12
Fig. 12
Expression patterns of EIN3 and ERF1 at different time points during salt stress. AEIN3. BERF1. Values are means ± SE (n = 4). Different letters indicate the significant difference at the 0.05 level
Fig. 13
Fig. 13
Overview of P. palustre plants responding to salt stress
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Machado R, Serralheiro R. Soil salinity: effect on vegetable crop growth. Management practices to prevent and mitigate soil salinization. Horticulturae. 2017;3:13.
    1. Parida AK, Das AB. Salt tolerance and salinity effects on plants: a review. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2005;60(3):324–49. - PubMed
    1. Li J, Wang J. Integrated life cycle assessment of improving saline-sodic soil with flue gas desulfurization gypsum. J Clean Prod. 2018;202:332–41.
    1. Qin X, Yin Y, Zhao J, An W, Fan Y, Liang X, Cao Y. Metabolomic and transcriptomic analysis of Lycium Chinese and L. ruthenicum under salinity stress. BMC Plant Biol. 2022;22(1):8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhu JK. Salt and drought stress signal transduction in plants. Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2002;53:247–73. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources