Responses of Membranes and the Photosynthetic Apparatus to Salt Stress in Cyanobacteria

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are autotrophs whose photosynthetic process is similar to that of higher plants, although the photosynthetic apparatus is slightly different. They have been widely used for decades as model systems for studying the principles of photosynthesis, especially the effects of environmental stress on photosynthetic activities. Salt stress, which is the most common abiotic stress in nature, combines ionic and osmotic stresses. High cellular ion concentrations and osmotic stress can alter normal metabolic processes and photosynthesis. Additionally, salt stress increases the intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) contents. Excessive amounts of ROS will damage the photosynthetic apparatus, inhibit the synthesis of photosystem-related proteins, including the D1 protein, and destroy the thylakoid membrane structure, leading to inhibited photosynthesis. In this review, we mainly introduce the effects of salt stress on the cyanobacterial membranes and photosynthetic apparatus. We also describe specific salt tolerance mechanisms. A thorough characterization of the responses of membranes and photosynthetic apparatus to salt stress may be relevant for increasing agricultural productivity.

Multi-Omic Analyses Reveal Habitat Adaptation of Marine Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 7338

“…A significant downregulation of the D1 protein gene was observed in Synechocystis sp. PCC 7338, which agrees with the previous results that the transcription and subsequent production D1 protein is inhibited by salt stress ( Figure 4B ; Allakhverdiev and Murata, 2008 ; Yang et al, 2020 ). As a result, the repair rate of damaged PSII would slow down, and oxidative stress would occur when excessive energy is transferred to PSII.…”

Effects of Genotype and Climatic Conditions on the Oil Content and Its Fatty Acids Composition of Carthamus tinctorius L. Seeds

“…Allakhverdiev et al [62] have realized that the augmentation of the polyunsaturated fatty acid in membrane lipids is able to conserve the plant's photosynthetic system. Other research has confirmed that abiotic stress such as saline stress leads to an increased proportion of unsaturated fatty acids [63]. In the biotechnology field, the study of the effect of these factors on seed oil quality gives an opportunity to develop tolerant safflowers genotypes having desirable fatty acid traits.…”

Ascorbic Acid-Induced Photosynthetic Adaptability of Processing Tomatoes to Salt Stress Probed by Fast OJIP Fluorescence Rise

“…Increasing levels of salt in soil have become a primary abiotic stress that limits the productivity of processing tomatoes in Xinjiang Province (Pang et al, 2005). High salinity inhibits crop growth by disrupting a range of physiological processes involved in cell metabolism, especially photosynthesis (Thagela et al, 2017;Yang et al, 2020). Photosynthesis is the primary metabolic mechanism in plants (Singh et al, 2014) and is particularly sensitive to salinity (Ashraf and Harris, 2013).…”