{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T06:22:53Z","timestamp":1787638973032,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787616000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Plant Sci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Prunus mongolica<\/jats:italic>\n                      is a relict xerophytic shrub important for desert ecosystem stability and vegetation restoration in arid regions. However, its adaptive mechanisms under combined alkali salt and cadmium stress remain unclear. This study investigated the regulatory role of exogenous \u03b3-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in stress tolerance under single and combined stresses.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this study, seedlings were subjected to alkali salt, cadmium, and combined stress treatments, followed by foliar application of GABA. Germination, growth, physiological traits, and transcriptomic responses were analyzed using an integrated multi-level approach.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The alkali salt, cadmium, and combined alkali salt and cadmium stress significantly inhibited germination and growth, with combined stress showing the strongest effects. Stress induced reactive oxygen species accumulation, lipid peroxidation, and photosynthetic inhibition. Exogenous \u03b3-aminobutyric acid alleviated these effects by improving germination, growth, chlorophyll content, and root activity, while reducing oxidative damage. It enhanced osmotic adjustment via increased proline and soluble sugars and strengthened antioxidant enzyme activities, including superoxide dismutase, peroxidase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, and glutathione reductase, restoring redox homeostasis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Transcriptome analysis showed that GABA reprogrammed stress-responsive genes enriched in \u201cMAPK signaling pathway\u2013plant\u201d, \u201cPlant hormone signal transduction\u201d, \u201cPlant\u2013pathogen interaction\u201d, \u201cPeroxisome\u201d, and \u201cGlutathione metabolism\u201d pathways. Gene set enrichment analysis further indicated recovery of photosynthesis, carbon metabolism, and primary \u201cmetabolic process\u201d, suggesting restoration of energy balance and metabolic homeostasis. Collectively, GABA functions as a multi-level regulator integrating redox balance, signaling pathways, and metabolic reprogramming to enhance stress tolerance in\n                      <jats:italic>Prunus mongolica<\/jats:italic>\n                      .\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2026.1927917","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]],"date-time":"2026-08-25T05:34:45Z","timestamp":1787636085000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Exogenous \u03b3-aminobutyric acid mitigates physiological and transcriptomic responses of Prunus mongolica under combined alkali salt and cadmium stress"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Guiquan","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Forestry College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forestry College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xuebo","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Architecture College, Tianjin University","place":["Tianjin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lu","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forestry College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Youwei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Grasslands College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Heyi","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forestry College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaomin","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Inner Mongolia Expressway Shanmei Ecological Development Co., Ltd.","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ze","family":"Ren","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Inner Mongolia Expressway Shanmei Ecological Development Co., Ltd.","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunpeng","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forestry College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Forestry College, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University","place":["Hohhot, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.11983\/CBB20160","article-title":"Research progress on physiological and biochemical mechanisms of plant responses to cadmium stress","volume":"56","author":"An","year":"2021","journal-title":"Chin. 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