Analysis of Gene Expression Changes in Plants Grown in Salty Soil in Response to Inoculation with Halophilic Bacteria

Soil salinity is an increasing problem facing agriculture in many parts of the world. Climate change and irrigation practices have led to decreased yields of some farmland due to increased salt levels in the soil. Plants that have tolerance to salt are thus needed to feed the world’s population. One approach addressing this problem is genetic engineering to introduce genes encoding salinity, but this approach has limitations. Another fairly new approach is the isolation and development of salt-tolerant (halophilic) plant-associated bacteria. These bacteria are used as inoculants to stimulate plant growth. Several reports are now available, demonstrating how the use of halophilic inoculants enhance plant growth in salty soil. However, the mechanisms for this growth stimulation are as yet not clear. Enhanced growth in response to bacterial inoculation is expected to be associated with changes in plant gene expression. In this review, we discuss the current literature and approaches for analyzing altered plant gene expression in response to inoculation with halophilic bacteria. Additionally, challenges and limitations to current approaches are analyzed. A further understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in enhanced plant growth when inoculated with salt-tolerant bacteria will significantly improve agriculture in areas affected by saline soils.

INVESTIGASI ZONA AKUIFER MENGGUNAKAN METODE GEOLISTRIK KONFIGURASI SCHLUMBERGER DI PANTAI PARANGLUHU KECAMATAN BONTOBAHARI, KABUPATEN BULUKUMBA

Water is a natural resource that is essential for needs of living things, especially human beings. Most groundwater widely utilized because the standards compliance of clean water and proper use. However there is a difference in the conditions and quality of the groundwater in different areas, one of which on the territory of coastal zone that can store brackish ground water – salty. This is a lot going on in various parts of the territory of one of the coastal zone subdistrict of Bontobahari. Related conditions, this research was conducted with the aim to find out the characteristics of the aquifer and the salty soil water distribution in the region of coastal zone subdistrict of Bontobahari, Bulukumba. The methods used in this research is the geoelectric resistivity injection using the Schlumberger configuration. Based on the measurement and data processing, resisvity values of aquifer have about 29,4 – 36,1 Ωm and it can be found at a depth of 6,50 – 19,7 m.

Analysis of decadal land cover changes and salinization in Urmia Lake Basin using remote sensing techniques

Urmia Lake located in the north-west of Iran, is one of the largest hyper-saline lakes in the world. In recent years, most of the Urmia Lake have been rendered to unusable lands. Drought and rapid increase in agricultural activities are the most important reasons behind the shrinkage of the Lake. This kind of exploitation with the added salinity from irrigation occurring over time has caused increased soil salinity in the basin leading up to desertification. Soil salinity research are crucial to understand underlying causes and consequences of the drying Urmia Lake. In this study, we use remote sensing technology and image processing techniques to detect spatio-temporal variability of salt body, salt affected lands, and development of irrigated lands to estimate the extend of salinization in terms of spectral response of satellite images for the Urmia Lake Basin from 1975 to 2016. The results of this study indicate that salt and salty soil areas has increased dramatically from 1995 to 2014 and more than 5000 km2 of Urmia Lake's water surface area was converted to salt or salty soil bodies during recent years. Salinization and desertification progress are not limited to just dried bottom of the Urmia Lake. Although the area of irrigated lands has increased more than two times during the studied period, soil salinity has increased in regions close to Urmia Lake too. This desertification in the basin have potential to be the source of dust storms, which have adverse effects on people's life and climate as well.