Membrane Proteomics Reveals the Role of Plant-Derived Smoke Solution on Wheat Under Salt Stress

Salt stress severely limits wheat growth and seed yield; however, the mechanisms underlying plant-derived smoke (PDS)-induced salt tolerance remain unclear. The present study performs membrane proteomics to clarify how PDS solution enhances salt tolerance in wheat. Immunoblot analysis of subcellular marker proteins confirms successful enrichment of membrane fractions. Principal component analysis shows that 200 mM NaCl markedly alters membrane-protein composition in wheat roots, whereas 2000 ppm PDS solution largely restores these changes even under salt stress. At the protein level, mitochondrial ascorbate peroxidase increases in roots under salt stress but decreases with PDS-solution treatment, while leaves show the opposite trend. Salt stress reduces ATP content and H⁺-ATPase abundance; PDS-solution treatment restores both to near-control levels. In contrast, aquaporin levels increase under salt stress but decline after PDS-solution application. In addition, the expression of ammonium transporter was downregulated significantly under salt stress but recovered with PDS-solution treatment. These results suggest that PDS solution may confer salt-stress tolerance to wheat by regulating energy metabolism, water permeability, and ammonium absorption in the root membrane.