combined effect of salinity and heat reveals a specific physiological, biochemical and molecular response in tomato plants

• Published in: Plant, cell and environment Vol. 37; no. 5; pp. 1059 - 1073
• Main Authors: RIVERO, ROSA M, MESTRE, TERESA C, MITTLER, RON, RUBIO, FRANCISCO, GARCIA‐SANCHEZ, FRANCISCO, MARTINEZ, VICENTE
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell 01.05.2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Accumulation; betaine; Biological and medical sciences; Biological Transport; Biomass; chlorophyll fluorescence; enzymatic activities; enzymology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; growth & development; heat; Heat tolerance; Hot Temperature; Lycopersicon esculentum - enzymology; Lycopersicon esculentum - growth & development; Lycopersicon esculentum - metabolism; Lycopersicon esculentum - physiology; metabolism; osmoprotectant accumulation; Osmosis; Oxidation-Reduction; Oxidative Stress; Photosynthesis; Physiology; Plant growth; Plant Proteins; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant Roots; Plant Roots - physiology; Plant Shoots; Plant Shoots - physiology; potassium; Potassium - metabolism; Salinity; salt stress; Salts; sodium; Sodium - metabolism; Solanum lycopersicum; stress combination; Stress, Physiological; Tomatoes; transcript expression; Water; Water - metabolism; water relations; Transcription; enzymatic activities; Gene product; Fluorescence; Biochemistry; Combined effect; Molecular response; Accumulation; Enzymatic activity; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Lycopersicon esculentum; Physiology; Solanaceae; Chlorophyll; water relations; transcript expression; chlorophyll fluorescence; Plant ecology; Osmoregulation; stress combination; Stress; Salinity; Heat; Osmoprotectant; osmoprotectant accumulation; Vegetable crop; Sodium; Spermatophyta; Photosynthesis; Potassium; sodium; potassium; photosynthesis
• ISSN: 0140-7791; 1365-3040; 1365-3040
• DOI: 10.1111/pce.12199

Many studies have described the response mechanisms of plants to salinity and heat applied individually; however, under field conditions some abiotic stresses often occur simultaneously. Recent studies revealed that the response of plants to a combination of two different stresses is specific and cannot be deduced from the stresses applied individually. Here, we report on the response of tomato plants to a combination of heat and salt stress. Interestingly, and in contrast to the expected negative effect of the stress combination on plant growth, our results show that the combination of heat and salinity provides a significant level of protection to tomato plants from the effects of salinity. We observed a specific response of plants to the stress combination that included accumulation of glycine betaine and trehalose. The accumulation of these compounds under the stress combination was linked to the maintenance of a high K⁺ concentration and thus a lower Na⁺/K⁺ ratio, with a better performance of the cell water status and photosynthesis as compared with salinity alone. Our findings unravel new and unexpected aspects of the response of plants to stress combination and provide a proposed list of enzymatic targets for improving crop tolerance to the abiotic field environment.