Transcriptomic analysis reveals the importance of JA-Ile turnover in the response of Arabidopsis plants to plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and salinity

Abstract

The use of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) is a proven management strategy to improve plant growth. The aim was to reveal the genomic and proteomic basis of the plant tolerance to saline soil conditions. Combination of whole transcriptome analysis and proteomic profiling helped further the understanding of the complexity of salt tolerance responses. Arabidopsis plants were grown inoculated or not with Bacillus megaterium and irrigated or not with salt. Physiological, genomic and proteomic approaches were combined to reveal plant salt tolerance mechanisms. Microarray analyses revealed the up-regulation of the jasmonic acid metabolism (CYP94B3, lipooxigenase 4 and allene-oxide cyclase) under saline conditions. Knock-out mutants of the gene of interest CYP94B3, responsible of JA-Ile catabolism, were used to confirm the obtained results. Salinity resulted in leaf Na accumulation with decreased chlorophyll content, but PGPR inoculation helped to overcome the stress. Proteomic analysis showed enhanced monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) content together with ATP synthase. CYP94B3 knock-out plants confirmed the key role of JA-Ile turnover to overcome moderate saline stress. Subsequent experimentation showed that CYP94B3 was important for salt tolerance under moderate and severe salt stress. Inoculation with B. megaterium was a valuable tool to reveal the importance of JA-Ile turnover and to recover Arabidopsis plants from saline stress. A single gene can modify the response of plants to salt stress.