MicroRNA396-mediated alteration in plant development and salinity stress response in creeping bentgrass

Abstract

Salt tolerance: How plants handle high (salt) stress situations A small molecule, miR396, plays a big role in how plants respond to salt stress, a growing constraint on global crop yield. Salt stress prevents plants from absorbing nutrients, causes oxidative stress, and destroys key cellular machinery; some plants cope better than others. Hong Luo at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA and coworkers investigated how creeping bentgrass handles high salinity, focusing on the microRNA miR396, previously implicated in salt tolerance. Artificially elevating miR396 improved bentgrass’ salt tolerance. Further investigation showed that miR396 triggered increases in proteins that pump excess salt out of cells, others that prevent water loss, and antioxidant production. miR396 was found to be a master regulator that orchestrates many lines of defense against excess salt. Understanding how these pathways are activated and integrated could help in breeding more salt-tolerant crops.