Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Stress
Soil saline-alkalization is a key factor affecting rice growth and physiological metabolism, which leads to reduced yields. Endophyte EF0801 significantly promoted growth and improved its saline-alkali resistance. We investigated growth parameters and physiological indices of endophyte EF0801-infect...
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2025-05-01
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| author | Xinnan Wang Yanan Li Hefei Sun Lihong Zhang Xuemei Li |
| author_facet | Xinnan Wang Yanan Li Hefei Sun Lihong Zhang Xuemei Li |
| author_sort | Xinnan Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soil saline-alkalization is a key factor affecting rice growth and physiological metabolism, which leads to reduced yields. Endophyte EF0801 significantly promoted growth and improved its saline-alkali resistance. We investigated growth parameters and physiological indices of endophyte EF0801-infected and control rice seedlings under sodium carbonate (Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>) stress. The results showed that endophyte-infected rice seedlings showed plant height increase by 1.25-fold, root length shortening by 0.79-fold, sucrose synthase (SS), sucrose phosphosynthase (SPS), hexokinase (HXK), and α-glucosidase (α-GC) activities increased by 0.15-fold, 0.29-fold, 0.06-fold, and 1.45-fold, respectively, and β-glucosidase (β-GC) activity decreased by 0.12-fold. Utilizing gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology, we identified 419 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 37 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs). Comprehensive enrichment analysis of DAMs and DEGs showed that 6 DEGs and 6 DAMs were strongly correlated with the mitigating effects of endophytes on rice leaves under Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> treatment, highlighting the co-enrichment in starch and sucrose metabolism, as well as alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. The gene encoding HXK was found to be upregulated in endophyte-infected rice seedlings under Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> stress. HXK plays a key role in the conversion of fructose and glucose to fructose 6-phosphate (F-6-P) and glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P), which are important intermediates in cellular energy metabolism and glycolytic pathways, providing energy and biosynthesis of precursor substances. Our findings provide a potential perspective for unraveling the molecular response of endophyte-mediated saline-alkali resistance in rice leaves and a theoretical rationale for exploring the mechanisms of growth-promoting effects by endophytes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-15ef05bb03af4bdeb6580520a14022fa |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2223-7747 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plants |
| spelling | doaj-art-15ef05bb03af4bdeb6580520a14022fa2025-08-20T03:48:01ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472025-05-011410152410.3390/plants14101524Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> StressXinnan Wang0Yanan Li1Hefei Sun2Lihong Zhang3Xuemei Li4College of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, ChinaCollege of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, ChinaCollege of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, ChinaSchool of Environmental Science, Liaoning University, Shenyang 110036, ChinaCollege of Life Science, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, ChinaSoil saline-alkalization is a key factor affecting rice growth and physiological metabolism, which leads to reduced yields. Endophyte EF0801 significantly promoted growth and improved its saline-alkali resistance. We investigated growth parameters and physiological indices of endophyte EF0801-infected and control rice seedlings under sodium carbonate (Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub>) stress. The results showed that endophyte-infected rice seedlings showed plant height increase by 1.25-fold, root length shortening by 0.79-fold, sucrose synthase (SS), sucrose phosphosynthase (SPS), hexokinase (HXK), and α-glucosidase (α-GC) activities increased by 0.15-fold, 0.29-fold, 0.06-fold, and 1.45-fold, respectively, and β-glucosidase (β-GC) activity decreased by 0.12-fold. Utilizing gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technology and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology, we identified 419 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 37 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs). Comprehensive enrichment analysis of DAMs and DEGs showed that 6 DEGs and 6 DAMs were strongly correlated with the mitigating effects of endophytes on rice leaves under Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> treatment, highlighting the co-enrichment in starch and sucrose metabolism, as well as alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism. The gene encoding HXK was found to be upregulated in endophyte-infected rice seedlings under Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> stress. HXK plays a key role in the conversion of fructose and glucose to fructose 6-phosphate (F-6-P) and glucose 6-phosphate (G-6-P), which are important intermediates in cellular energy metabolism and glycolytic pathways, providing energy and biosynthesis of precursor substances. Our findings provide a potential perspective for unraveling the molecular response of endophyte-mediated saline-alkali resistance in rice leaves and a theoretical rationale for exploring the mechanisms of growth-promoting effects by endophytes.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/10/1524<i>Oryza sativa</i> L.Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> stressendophyte-plant interactionRNA-seqGC-MS analysis |
| spellingShingle | Xinnan Wang Yanan Li Hefei Sun Lihong Zhang Xuemei Li Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Stress Plants <i>Oryza sativa</i> L. Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> stress endophyte-plant interaction RNA-seq GC-MS analysis |
| title | Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Stress |
| title_full | Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Stress |
| title_fullStr | Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Stress |
| title_short | Integrative Transcriptomics and Metabolomics Reveal the Key Metabolic Pathways in Endophyte-Infected Rice Seedlings Resistance to Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> Stress |
| title_sort | integrative transcriptomics and metabolomics reveal the key metabolic pathways in endophyte infected rice seedlings resistance to na sub 2 sub co sub 3 sub stress |
| topic | <i>Oryza sativa</i> L. Na<sub>2</sub>CO<sub>3</sub> stress endophyte-plant interaction RNA-seq GC-MS analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/10/1524 |
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