Soil salinity is one of the most detrimental abiotic stresses affecting plant survival, and light is a core environmental signal regulating plant growth and responses to abiotic stress. However, how light modulates the plant’s response to salt stress remains largely obscure. Here, we show that Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seedlings are more tolerant to salt stress in the light than in the dark, and that the photoreceptors phytochrome A (phyA) and phyB are involved in this tolerance mechanism. We further show that phyA and phyB physically interact with the salt tolerance regulator SALT OVERLY SENSITIVE2 (SOS2) in the cytosol and nucleus, and enhance salt-activated SOS2 kinase activity in the light. Moreover, SOS2 directly interacts with and phosphorylates PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTORS PIF1 and PIF3 in the nucleus. Accordingly, PIFs act as negative regulators of plant salt tolerance, and SOS2 phosphorylation of PIF1 and PIF3 decreases their stability and relieves their repressive effect on plant salt tolerance in both light and dark conditions. Together, our study demonstrates that photo-activated phyA and phyB promote plant salt tolerance by increasing SOS2-mediated phosphorylation and degradation of PIF1 and PIF3, thus broadening our understanding of how plants adapt to salt stress according to their dynamic light environment.

Microorganisms are essential in soil biogeochemical processes and vegetation establishment. Nonetheless, investigating predictable patterns in the microbial structure during forest restoration damaged by natural or human factors in southwestern China is still limited. Hence, the study intended to explore the effects of forest restoration damaged by illegal construction, abandoned mines, and meteorological disasters on the microbial structure and its consequence on ecosystem functioning. The results uncovered that soil and plant attributes in the restoration forests damaged by illegal construction were similar to the natural community. Furthermore, the alpha diversity indexes were higher in the restoration forests damaged by human factors than in the natural community. Co‐occurrence network analysis identified hub bacterial (e.g., Roseiarcus and Comamonas) and fungal (e.g., Exophiala and Botryotrichum) taxa, proving densely connected interactions with other microorganisms. Restoration forests damaged by illegal construction harbored beneficial genera belonging to Proteobacteria (Nordella, Xanthobacteraceae, and Sphingomonas) and Basidiomycota (Panaeolus, Psilocybe, and Sebacina), whereas restoration forests damaged by abandoned mines presented specialized bacteria involved in dark sulfur oxidation and ureolysis. Correlation analysis showed that soil properties, especially water content and pH, were the dominant factors affecting the microbial communities. Tree and shrub alpha diversities were significantly related to Chloroflexi in the natural community, and herbaceous richness was remarkably related to Proteobacteria and Mortierellomycota in the restoration forest damaged by human factors. Collectively, this comprehensive analysis generates novel insights to explore the contrasting responses of microbial communities during the process of restoration and provides essential microbial indicators for habitat restoration in southwestern China.