Salt stress using Chenopodium quinoa as a model plant

Abstract

Chenopodium quinoa is an important crop known for its salt tolerance. Salinity is an osmotic stress and ions accumulation in the root zone causes a reduction in soil water availability, affecting the uptake of essential nutrients, changing seed composition, and reducing biomass. Hence, the need for high-yield crops in poor soils. This research examines the effect of salt stress on quinoa photosynthetic efficiency and salt bladder development. Sensitive and tolerant quinoa lines were examined under salt stress conditions when a concentration of 155mM NaCl was applied. Soil conductivity was monitored for salt stress during the experiment. At approximately two months old, CropReporter images were taken and analyzed using PlantCV to estimate photosystem II efficiency, non-photochemical quenching (NPQ), chlorophyll content, and anthocyanin content. The analysis showed that the salt treatment did not negatively affect the plant photosynthetic efficiency (no changes in Fv/Fm, NPQ, Fq’/Fm’) but leaf area and chlorophyll content was statistically negatively affected by the treatment when comparing genotypes. Live tissue was also analyzed using reflection and fluorescence confocal microscopy, where epidermal salt bladders images were acquired, visualized and analyzed in 3-D and the salt tolerant line showed bigger bladder volumes compared with control conditions. A more high-throughput approach using PlantCV, an open-source image analysis software package targeted for plant phenotyping. This software helped count epidermal salt bladders using stereoscope images. A comprehensive understanding of the quinoa salt tolerant mechanisms by employing multidisciplinary approaches is necessary for their effective incorporation into salt-sensitive crops for better crop yields under stressful environments.

Plant phenotyping relevance

PlantCVと画像・蛍光/共焦点 microscopy を用いて、光合成指標、葉面積、色素量、塩腺の体積・数を抽出するワークフローが、塩ストレス評価の主要な技術要素として記述されている。

Code and data availability

The supplied preprint text describes PlantCV-based phenotyping and confocal/stereoscope imaging of quinoa salt bladders, but contains no public dataset, image, code repository, or supplement URL for the paper's own measurements. The only URL present is the preprint's own DOI, which is the article itself, not a paper-­‐

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