Sugar beet is a highly salt-tolerant crop. However, its ability to withstand high salinity is reduced compared to sea beet, a wild ancestor of all beet crops. The aim of this study was to investigate transcriptional patterns associated with physiological, cytological and biochemical mechanisms involved in salt response in these closely related subspecies. Salt acclimation strategies were assessed in plants subjected to either gradually increasing salt levels (salt-stress) or in excised leaves, exposed instantly to salinity (salt-shock). The majority of DEGs was down-regulated under stress, which may lead to certain aspects of metabolism being reduced in this treatment, as exemplified by lowered transpiration and photosynthesis. This effect was more pronounced in sugar beet. Additionally, sugar beet, but not sea beet, growth was restricted. Silencing of genes encoding numerous transcription factors and signaling proteins was observed, concomitantly with the up-regulation of lipid transfer protein-encoding genes and those coding for NRTs. Bark storage protein genes were up-regulated in sugar beet to the level observed in unstressed sea beet. Osmotic adjustment, manifested by increased water and proline content, occurred in salt-shocked leaves of both genotypes, due to the concerted activation of genes encoding aquaporins, ion channels and osmoprotectants synthesizing enzymes. bHLH137 was the only TF-encoding gene induced by salt in a dose-dependent manner irrespective of the mode of salt treatment. Moreover, the incidence of bHLH-binding motives in promoter regions of salinity-regulated genes was significantly greater than in non-regulated ones. Maintaining homeostasis under salt stress requires deeper transcriptomic changes in the sugar beet than in the sea beet. In both genotypes salt shock elicits greater transcriptomic changes than stress and it results in greater number of up-regulated genes compared to the latter. NRTs and bark storage protein may play a yet undefined role in salt stress-acclimation in beet. bHLH is a putative regulator of salt response in beet leaves and a promising candidate for further studies.

Plant peroxidases have strong potential utility for decontamination of phenol-polluted wastewater. However, large-scale use of these enzymes for phenol depollution requires a source of cheap, abundant, and easily accessible peroxidase-containing material. In this study, we show that potato pulp, a waste product of the starch industry, contains large amounts of active peroxidases. We demonstrate that potato pulp may serve as a tool for peroxidase-based remediation of phenol pollution. The phenol removal efficiency of potato pulp was over 95 % for optimized phenol concentrations. The potato pulp enzymes maintained their activity at pH 4 to 8 and were stable over a wide temperature range. Phenol solutions treated with potato pulp showed a significant reduction in toxicity compared with untreated phenol solutions. Finally we determined that this method may be employed to remove phenol from industrial effluent with over 90 % removal efficiency under optimal conditions.

The developmental response of the Arabidopsis root system to low phosphorus (P) availability involves the reduction in primary root elongation accompanied by the formation of numerous lateral roots...