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Background Drought is a leading environmental factor affecting plant growth. To explore the drought tolerance mechanism of asparagus, this study analyzed the responses of two asparagus varieties, namely, ‘Jilv3’ (drought tolerant) and ‘Pacific Early’ (drought sensitive), to drought stress using metabolomics and transcriptomics. Results In total, 2,567 and 7,187 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in ‘Pacific Early’ and ‘Jilv3’, respectively, by comparing the transcriptome expression patterns between the normal watering treatment and the drought stress treatment. These DEGs were significantly enriched in the amino acid biosynthesis, carbon metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and plant hormone signal transduction pathways. In ‘Jilv3’, DEGs were also enriched in the following energy metabolism-related pathways: citrate cycle (TCA cycle), glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, and pyruvate metabolism. This study also identified 112 and 254 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) in ‘Pacific Early’ and ‘Jilv3’ under drought stress compared with normal watering, respectively. The amino acid, flavonoid, organic acid, and soluble sugar contents were more significantly enhanced in ‘Jilv3’ than in ‘Pacific Early’. According to the metabolome and transcriptome analysis, in ‘Jilv3’, the energy supply of the TCA cycle was improved, and flavonoid biosynthesis increased. As a result, its adaptability to drought stress improved. Conclusions These findings help to better reveal the molecular mechanism underlying how asparagus responds to drought stress and improve researchers’ ability to screen drought-tolerant asparagus varieties as well as breed new varieties.

Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress that affects crop productivity. Garden asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) is a perennial plant with some salt tolerance. However, little is known about its response mechanism to salinity stress. In this study, we conducted transcriptome analysis in the leaves of A. officinalis seedlings treated with NaCl solution for 0 h, 1 h, 24 h, and 72 h using the Illumina HiSeq™ 2500 sequencing platform. Compared with the control (0 h), 1027, 3387, and 3358 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified at 1 h, 24 h, and 72 h, respectively. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses revealed that these DEGs were highly enriched in carbon metabolism, ion transport, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism functional categories, suggesting their key positions in salinity stress responses. Moreover, k-means clustering categorized these DEGs into five kinds of expression patterns at four time points. Of these, DEGs involved in carbon metabolism, ion transport, and ROS metabolism and the groups which they belonged to were identified, which demonstrated their time-dependent response mechanisms. Overall, the transcriptome analysis shed light on the salinity stress response mechanisms in A. officinalis and provided a basis for future studies on salt-tolerance molecular improvement.

While has been reported to alleviate abiotic stress-induced damage in diverse plant species, its precise functional mechanism in mediating salt tolerance in asparagus remains unclear. The present study sought to uncover the molecular regulatory mechanisms through which strain P10 enhances the salt adaptability of asparagus seedlings. We investigated physiological responses, as well as transcriptomic and metabolomic alterations, in P10-inoculated asparagus seedlings grown under saline conditions. The results demonstrated that P10 inoculation alleviated salt-induced physiological damage by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activities and promoting the accumulation of osmotic regulatory substances. Comparative transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses identified 1659 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and 128 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) between P10-inoculated and non-inoculated seedlings under salt stress. These DEGs were primarily associated with multiple biological pathways, including phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, and flavonoid biosynthesis pathways (flavone, flavonol, and total flavonoid synthesis). Metabolomic profiling indicated that organic acids constituted the most abundant class of DAMs, followed by amino acids and their derivatives, and flavonoids. Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses suggested that P10 optimized the amino acid metabolic network under salt stress by upregulating genes involved in nitrogen assimilation, glutathione biosynthesis, and polyamine biosynthesis, thereby promoting amino acid accumulation and enhancing glutathione and polyamine levels. In addition, P10 markedly stimulated flavone and flavonol biosynthesis while maintaining elevated anthocyanin levels. Overall, P10 mitigated salt stress injury in asparagus by regulating amino acid metabolism to improve osmotic balance and growth stability, while simultaneously redirecting phenylpropanoid flux toward flavone and flavonol biosynthetic pathways to fine-tune stress responses.

Soil salinity is a very serious abiotic stressor that affects plant growth and threatens crop yield. Thus, it is important to explore the mechanisms of salt tolerance of plant and then to stabilize and improve crop yield. Asparagus is an important cash crop, but its salt tolerance mechanisms are largely unknown. Full-length transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were performed on two asparagus genotypes: ‘jx1502’ (a salt-tolerant genotype) and ‘gold crown’ (a salt-sensitive genotype). Compared with the distilled water treatment (control), 877 and 1610 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in ‘jx1502’ and ‘gold crown’ under salt stress treatment, respectively, and 135 and 73 differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) were identified in ‘jx1502’ and ‘gold crown’ under salt stress treatment, respectively. DEGs related to ion transport, plant hormone response, and cell division and growth presented differential expression profiles between ‘jx1502’ and ‘gold crown.’ In ‘jx1502,’ 11 ion transport-related DEGs, 8 plant hormone response-related DEGs, and 12 cell division and growth-related DEGs were upregulated, while 7 ion transport-related DEGs, 4 plant hormone response-related DEGs, and 2 cell division and growth-related DEGs were downregulated. Interestingly, in ‘gold crown,’ 14 ion transport-related DEGs, 2 plant hormone response-related DEGs, and 6 cell division and growth-related DEGs were upregulated, while 45 ion transport-related DEGs, 13 plant hormone response-related DEGs, and 16 cell division and growth-related DEGs were downregulated. Genotype ‘jx1502’ can modulate K + /Na + and water homeostasis and maintain a more constant transport system for nutrient uptake and distribution than ‘gold crown’ under salt stress. Genotype ‘jx1502’ strengthened the response to auxin (IAA), as well as cell division and growth for root remodeling and thus salt tolerance. Therefore, the integration analysis of transcriptomic and metabolomic indicated that ‘jx1502’ enhanced sugar and amino acid metabolism for energy supply and osmotic regulatory substance accumulation to meet the demands of protective mechanisms against salt stress. This work contributed to reveal the underlying salt tolerance mechanism of asparagus at transcription and metabolism level and proposed new directions for asparagus variety improvement.

The screening and cultivation of salt-tolerant crops are becoming more and more important owing to the constant increase in the saline soil area worldwide. Asparagus (A. officinalis L.) is a highly nutritious vegetable crop and widely consumed globally for a long time; however, little research has been done on asparagus. In this study, the salt tolerance of 95 asparagus germplasm accessions was evaluated at three growth stages (germination, seedling, and adult stages) under both salt-stressed and control conditions. Results showed that the growth parameters of most germplasm accessions were obviously inhibited by salt stress. The mean value of the seed germination rate at the germination stage decreased by half under salt-stressed conditions, the mean salt-injury index at the seedling stage reached 57.68%, and the fresh weight of the aboveground part (FWA) and the dry weight of the aboveground part (DWA) decreased the most among the traits determined at the adult stage by more than 60%. Our study screened out 30, 19, and 18 tolerant germplasm accessions (including highly salt-tolerant and salt-tolerant germplasm accessions) at the germination stage, seedling stage, and adult stage, respectively. Among them, two germplasm accessions (Ji08-2 and Jx1502) were simultaneously identified to be tolerant in all three growth stages, while other germplasm accessions were tolerant only at one or two stages. Thus, the salt tolerance of asparagus has periodic characteristics and changes throughout the lifecycle, and the identification of salt tolerance at all the main growth stages facilitates adequate assessment and application of tolerant germplasm accessions.

The selective absorption of K-, Ca2+ and Na- (ASK,Nx and ASCa,Na) was significantly increased with increased salinity, while the selective transportation (TSK,Na and TSCa,Na) increased at first and then decreased with the increased salinity. [...]the strong ability of salt ezduaion and the regionalized distribution of ions in roots, stems and leaves could be one of the salt tolerance mechanisms of A. officinalis L. Key words Asparagus officinalis L.; Salt stress; Growth; Ion distribution. According to statistics, the area of ?? various types of saline-alkali soil in China is about 9.91 x 107 hm2. [...]the full development and utilization of saline-alkali soil is an important issue in current agricultural development1-2. In this study, with the increase of salt concentration, the growth of A. officinalis seedlings gradually declines, the plant height decreases, the fresh weight and dry weight drop, and the inhibitory effect of salt stress on the growth of the aerial parts of A, officinalis is greater than that of the root system, which is consistent with the research results of Zhu et al. 9 Under salt stress, the excessive Na+ in soil affects the absorption , transportation, and distribution of Na+ , K+ , Ca2+, and Mg2+ ions in soil, and pseudohalophytes generally improve their adaptabffity to saline and alkaline environments through salt rejection 20. Ca2+ plays an important role in maintaining the integrity and stability of plant cell membranes[22]; Ron Mittler et al. has demonstrated that Ca together with ABA, ROS, is involved in signal transmission and expression of stress resistance in plants23; Heather Knight has also confirmed that endogenous Ca2+ in plants is closely related to salt tolerance, and under salt stress, Ca2+ on the plasma membrane may be replaced by Na+, which reduces the selectivity and stability of the cell membrane, leading to the influx of salt ions and leakage of nutrients., The ion-selective absorption coefficient and transport coefficient can reflect the selectivity of the plant for ion absorption and transport to aerial parts21-25.