Although canola is a moderately salt-tolerant species, its growth, seed yield, and oil production are markedly reduced under salt stress, particularly during the early vegetative growth stage. To identify the mechanisms of salt responsiveness in canola, the proteins expressed in the second and third newly developed leaves of salt-tolerant, Hyola 308, and salt-sensitive, Sarigol, cultivars were analyzed. Plants were exposed to 0, 175, and 350 mM NaCl during the vegetative stage. An increase in the Na content and a reduction in growth were observed in the third leaves compared to the second leaves. The accumulation of Na was more pronounced in the salt-sensitive compared with the salt-tolerant genotype. Out of 900 protein spots detected on 2-DE gels, 44 and 31 proteins were differentially expressed in the tolerant and susceptible genotypes, respectively. Cluster analysis based on the expression level of total and responsive proteins indicated that the second leaves had a discriminator role between the two genotypes at both salinity levels. Using MS analysis, 46 proteins could be identified including proteins involved in responses to oxidative stress, energy production, electron transport, translation, and photosynthesis. Our results suggest that these proteins might play roles in canola adaptation to salt stress.

Pistachio, one of the important tree nuts, is cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions where salinity is the most common abiotic stress encountered by this tree. However, the mechanisms underlying salinity tolerance in this plant are not well understood. In the present study, five 1-year-old pistachio rootstocks (namely Akbari, Badami, Ghazvini, Kale-Ghouchi, and UCB-1) were treated with four saline water regimes (control, 8, 12, and 16 dS m) for 100 days. At high salinity level, all rootstocks showed decreased relative water content (RWC), total chlorophyll content (TCHC), and carotenoids in the leaf, while ascorbic acid (AsA) and total soluble proteins (TSP) were reduced in both leaf and root organs. In addition, the total phenolic compounds (TPC), proline, glycine betaine, total soluble carbohydrate (TSC), and HO content increased under salinity stress in all studied rootstocks. Three different ion exclusion strategies were observed in the studied rootstocks: (i) Na exclusion in UCB-1, because most of its Na is retained in the roots; (ii) Cl exclusion in Badami, in which most of its Cl remained in the roots; and (iii) similar concentrations of Na and Cl were observed in the leaves and roots of Ghazvini, Akbari, and Kale-Ghouchi. Transport capacity (ST value) of K over Na from the roots to the leaves was more observable in UCB-1 and Ghazvini. Overall, the root system cooperated more effectively in UCB-1 and Badami for retaining and detoxifying an excessive amount of Na and Cl. The results presented here provide important inputs to better understand the salt tolerance mechanism in a tree species for developing more salt-tolerant genotypes. Based on the results obtained here, the studied rootstocks from tolerant to susceptible are arranged as follows: UCB-1 > Badami > Ghazvini > Kale-Ghouchi > Akbari.

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Plant growth-promoting bacteria can improve the tolerance of canola to salt stress. To better understand the effects of plant growth-promoting bacterium on the protein profiles of canola under salt stress condition, proteomics was performed. Salt-sensitive (Sarigol) and -tolerant (Hyola308) canola cultivars were inoculated with Pseudomonas fluorescens FY32, and the protein profiles of canola leaves were compared using a PEG-fractionation method. Cluster analysis of canola cultivars based on a stress tolerance index of several morphological parameters was used to confirm that Sarigol and Hyola308 were salt-sensitive and -tolerant cultivars, respectively. Using a gel-free proteomic technique, 154 and 94 proteins in Hyola308 and 100 and 144 proteins in Sarigol were uniquely identified in non-inoculated and bacterial-inoculated cultivars, respectively. By PEG fractionation, a total of 132 and 207 proteins were identified in non-inoculated and inoculated Hyola308, respectively. Notably, the abundance of copper/zinc superoxide dismutase 1 was significantly increased in inoculated Hyola308 under severe salt stress and decreased under moderate salt stress. In addition, the enzyme activity of delta-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase was significantly increased non-inoculated Hyola308 and the activity of succinate dehydrogenase was increased in inoculated Hyola308 leaves exposed to salt stress. Taken together, these results suggest that the bacterial inoculation of canola increases salt tolerance by inducing an increase in the abundance of proteins related to glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, and amino acid metabolism.

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