Gene expression and mucilage adaptations to salinity in germination of extreme halophyte Schrenkiella parvula seeds

Abstract

Salinization is a significant global issue causes irreversible damage to plants by reducing osmotic potential inhibiting seed germination and impeding water uptake. Seed germination a crucial step towards the seedling stage is regulated by several hormones and genes with the balance between abscisic acid and gibberellin being the key mechanism that either promotes or inhibits this process. Additionally mucilage a gelatinous substance is known to provide protection against drought herbivory soil adhesion and seed sinking. However limited information is available on the structure and thickness of seed mucilage in halophytes under different salinity conditions. In this study the mucilage structure of the extreme halophyte Schrenkiella parvula was compared with the glycophyte Arabidopsis thaliana in response to salinity. We found differences in the expression levels of genes such as ABI5 RGL2 DOG1 ENO2 and DHAR2 which are involved in seed germination and antioxidant activity as well as in the mucilage structure of seeds of S. parvula and A. thaliana seeds at different salt concentrations. The responses of seed germination of S. parvula to salinity indicate that it is more salt-tolerant than A. thaliana. Additionally it was found that S. parvula mucilage decreased under salt conditions but not under mannitol conditions whereas in A. thaliana mucilage did not change under both conditions which is one of the adaptation strategies of S. parvula to salt conditions. We believe that these fundamental analyzes will provide a foundation for future molecular and biochemical studies comparing the responses of crops and halophytes to salinity stress.