Multi-omics analysis reveals key regulatory defense pathways and genes involved in salt tolerance of rose plants

Abstract

Salinity stress causes serious damage to crops worldwide, limiting plant production. However, the metabolic and molecular mechanisms underlying the response to salt stress in rose ( Rosa spp.) remain poorly studied. We therefore performed a multi-omics investigation of Rosa hybrida cv. Jardin de Granville (JDG) and Rosa damascena Mill. (DMS) under salt stress to determine the mechanisms underlying rose adaptability to salinity stress. Salt treatment of both JDG and DMS led to the buildup of reactive oxygen species (H₂O₂). Palisade tissue was more severely damaged in DMS than in JDG, while the relative electrolyte permeability was lower and the soluble protein content was higher in JDG than in DMS. Metabolome profiling revealed significant alterations in phenolic acid, lipids, and flavonoid metabolite levels in JDG and DMS under salt stress. Proteome analysis identified enrichment of flavone and flavonol pathways in JDG under salt stress. RNA sequencing showed that salt stress influenced primary metabolism in DMS, whereas it substantially affected secondary metabolism in JDG. Integrating these datasets revealed that the phenylpropane pathway, especially the flavonoid pathway, is strongly enhanced in rose under salt stress. Consistent with this, weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) identified the key regulatory gene chalcone synthase 1 ( CHS1 ), which is important in the phenylpropane pathway. Moreover, luciferase assays indicated that the bHLH74 transcription factor binds to the CHS1 promoter to block its transcription. These results clarify the role of the phenylpropane pathway, especially flavonoid and flavonol metabolism, in the response to salt stress in rose.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Consult of Flower Industry of Jinning District (202204BI090022), General Project of Shenzhen Science and Technology and Innovation Commission (Grant No. 6020330006K0).

Author Contributions

ZX, MN conceived and designed the experiments. RH and YW conducted the experiments. RH, YW, ZX analyzed the data. LY, JW, QX, CP, XT, GJ and MN performed the research. RH, SM and ZX wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript. RH and YW contributed equally to this work.

Data availability

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available in the Biological Research Project Data (BioProject), National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) repository, accession: PRJNA1030783.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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