@article{pérez‐sepúlveda_jones_higuita‐aguirre_holdstock_kafle_cardoso_vann_mullen_garcia_2025, title={Nodulation Is Maintained and Salinity Tolerance Enhanced in Two Soybean Cultivars Inoculated With <scp> <i>Sinorhizobium fredii</i> </scp> Under Brackish Water}, volume={177}, url={https://doi.org/10.1111/ppl.70570}, DOI={10.1111/ppl.70570}, abstractNote={ABSTRACT Salinity is an increasing threat to agriculture, particularly in coastal regions affected by seawater intrusion and sea‐level rise. This study evaluated the halotolerance and symbiotic potential of Sinorhizobium fredii USDA 208 in two soybean cultivars (includer and excluder) under three salinity levels—low (freshwater), moderate (brackish water), and high (seawater). The results demonstrated that S. fredii not only tolerates but also exhibits enhanced growth under moderate salinity. Nodulation was successfully established when salinity and inoculation occurred simultaneously. Nodulation was also maintained when salinity occurred after the inoculation, particularly in fresh and brackish water. Root development declined with increasing salinity, but the includer cultivar showed better root system architecture plasticity in brackish water, while the excluder cultivar exhibited higher shoot and root biomass across salinity levels. Bacterial inoculation improved shoot phosphorus uptake, the potassium: sodium ratio, and carotenoid retention, particularly in the includer cultivar, suggesting an enhanced physiological tolerance to moderate salinity. Inoculation also resulted in higher shoot nitrogen and maintained pigment content. Using a seawater recipe provides a better understanding of salinity than traditional NaCl‐based studies and highlights the role of S. fredii USDA 208 in supporting soybean performance when salts accumulate in coastal agricultural soils.}, number={5}, journal={Physiologia Plantarum}, author={Pérez‐Sepúlveda, Mariela and Jones, Alena P. and Higuita‐Aguirre, Maria I. and Holdstock, Amelia and Kafle, Arjun and Cardoso, Amanda A. and Vann, Rachel and Mullen, Michael D. and Garcia, Kevin}, year={2025}, month={Sep} }
 @article{jones_kafle_rose_dutta_vann_bücking_garcia_2025, title={The external potassium availability determines the effect of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis on salinity tolerance in soybeans}, volume={8}, url={https://doi.org/10.1007/s13199-025-01071-0}, DOI={10.1007/s13199-025-01071-0}, abstractNote={Abstract Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi improve water and nutrient acquisition of most land plants. Additionally, they can help plants to alleviate abiotic stresses, such as salinity which causes a major threat for many crop species. Potassium (K + ) plays a major role in plant tolerance to salinity, and we recently demonstrated, by using rubidium (Rb + ) as a proxy, that AM fungi can directly transfer K + to their host plant. Here, we first investigated the impact of K + availability on soybean root development upon salinity. Then, using two-compartment systems, we also inoculated soybean plants with the AM fungus Rhizophagus irregularis , grew them in various K + and sodium (Na + ) regimes, and used Rb + to track K + movements. Root development parameters, biomass, colonization rate, and nutrient concentrations were assessed in AM and non-mycorrhizal plants. Our results show that soybean root development was significantly affected by NaCl treatments, rather than K + availability. Additionally, although the AM symbiosis was drastically reduced by high salinity, it improved K + concentrations and prevented Na + accumulation in inoculated plants, mainly under limiting K + conditions. Rb + transport was observed only when the plants were in demand for K + , but was inhibited by high salinity. Finally, we also show that the addition of NaCl slightly influences the availability of K + and Rb + . This report shows the combined impact of K + availability and AM symbiosis on soybean tolerance to salinity and discusses the limitations of using Rb + as a proxy for K + upon increasing salinity conditions.}, journal={Symbiosis}, author={Jones, Alena P. and Kafle, Arjun and Rose, Benjamin D. and Dutta, Summi and Vann, Rachel and Bücking, Heike and Garcia, Kevin}, year={2025}, month={Jun} }