Role of Wheat Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance 1 Genes in Phosphorus Acquisition and Root Architecture.

Hina Abbas,Sarfraz Shafiq,Marya Rubab,Bilal Saleem,Muhammad Ramzan Khan,Muhammad Kashif Naeem,Nageen Zahra,Muhammad Uzair,Amna Abdul Rahim,Emilie Widemann,Farhan Hafeez,Muhammad Imran,Safeena Inam

doi:10.3390/genes13030487

Abstract

The wheat plant requires elevated phosphorus levels for its normal growth and yield, but continuously depleting non-renewable phosphorus reserves in the soil is one of the biggest challenges in agricultural production worldwide. The Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance 1 (PSTOL1) gene has been reported to play a key role in efficient P uptake, deeper rooting, and high yield in rice. However, the function of the PSTOL1 gene in wheat is still unclear. In this study, a total of 22 PSTOL1 orthologs were identified in the wheat genome, and found that wheat PSTOL1 orthologs are unevenly distributed on chromosomes, and these genes were under strong purifying selection. Under different phosphorus regimes, wheat PSTOL1 genes showed differential expression patterns in different tissues. These results strengthen the classification of Pakistan-13 as a P-efficient cultivar and Shafaq-06 as a P-inefficient cultivar. Phenotypic characterization demonstrated that Pakistan-13 wheat cultivar has significantly increased P uptake, root length, root volume, and root surface area compared to Shafaq-06. Some wheat PSTOL1 orthologs are co-localized with phosphorus starvation’s related quantitative trait loci (QTLs), suggesting their potential role in phosphorus use efficiency. Altogether, these results highlight the role of the wheat PSTOL1 genes in wheat P uptake, root architecture, and efficient plant growth. This comprehensive study will be helpful for devising sustainable strategies for wheat crop production and adaptation to phosphorus insufficiency.

Highlights

Phosphorus is one of the primary and vital minerals a plant needs, especially for plant growth
TraesCS5B02G391900 and TraesCS5D02G396800 showed similar patterns of gene expression in Pakistan-13 and Shafaq-06 under different phosphorus regimes, but their expression levels were higher in Pakistan-13 under phosphorus-sufficient conditions as compared to Shafaq-06. These results indicate the specific regulation of TaPSTOL1 genes in different phosphorus regimes, and their regulation might depend on the genetic makeup of the wheat cultivars
The higher expression level in the root tissues suggested that TaPSTOL1 genes played an important role in phosphorus use efficiency

Summary

Introduction

Phosphorus is one of the primary and vital minerals a plant needs, especially for plant growth. Soil with lower phosphorus content has a constraint for biomass and grain yield and greatly hinders the growth and development of wheat. To increase the bioavailability of phosphorus and overcome its deficit in the soil, there is a need to develop crops having deeper rooting systems, nutrient efficiency, and higher yield under phosphorus starvation conditions. This emphasizes the development of wheat varieties that will perform better under phosphorus-deficient conditions and improve wheat productivity and food security [3]

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