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Rice is sensitive to salt stress, but its sensitivity varies among genotypes, indicating natural variation in regulatory mechanisms and genetic makeup. High-affinity potassium transporters (HKTs) that transport cations across membranes play important roles in stress responses of plants. In this study, the gene sequence polymorphisms and expression level of OsHKT1;3 which is a member of the rice HKT gene family was assessed. Sequence analysis indicated 5 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the coding sequence; 4 nucleotide substitutions, one nucleotide deletion and one nucleotide insertion in the promoter region of OsHKT1;3 gene. Among 5 SNPs in the coding sequence, one was nonsynonymous (C598G) which caused the change in amino acid L200V and 4 were synonymous substitutions (A798C, G2083A, T2101C, C2122T). The substituted amino acid L200V was predicted to locate in the third transmembrane segment of OsHKT1;3 protein. In the promoter region, 3 nucleotide substitutions at position-879,-453, and-202 caused the change in cis-elements with 8 deletions and 3 additions. Expression levels of OsHKT1;3 were analyzed in the leaves and the roots under 2 different salt concentrations and showed a tendency of reduction in most of the conditions.

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The role of microorganisms in coral health, disease, and nutrition has been demonstrated in various studies. Environmental factors including pH, temperature, and dissolved oxygen also play crucial roles in maintaining sustainable coral ecosystems. However, how geographical and environmental factors influence bacterial diversity and community composition is unclear. Here, bacterial communities associated with Acropora formosa coral were sampled from four different locations—Phu Quoc Islands (Vietnam), Nha Trang (Vietnam), Ujung Gelam (Indonesia), and Bourake (New Caledonia)—and compared using tagged 16S rRNA sequencing. We identified 24 bacterial phyla, 47 classes, 114 orders, and 495 genera from 18 samples. Overall, Proteobacteria (1039 distant amplicon sequence variants [ASVs]) and Firmicutes (589 ASVs) were predominant, while Verrucomicrobiota (75 ASVs) and Planctomycetota (46 ASVs) were minor taxa. Alpha diversity analyses revealed that the bacterial community associated with Acropora formosa from Ujung Gelam had the highest indexes (Observed and Chao1), while the figures for Bourake were the lowest. Non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis (NMDS) showed significant differences in bacterial communities among locations (ADONIS, p = 1 × 10−4). Temperature was strongly correlated with the distribution of bacterial communities in Bourake, whereas pH and dissolved oxygen were significantly correlated with the presence of coral-associated bacterial communities in Phu Quoc and Nha Trang. Across all samples, 28 potential biological markers and 95 core ASVs were found, revealing significant differences in coral-associated bacterial communities. Collectively, these findings provide a comprehensive understanding of bacterial communities living in coral reefs across different geographic sites, which could be useful springboards for further studies.

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