Abstract
We examined the physiological and biochemical responses of two halophytic grasses with different photosynthetic pathways, Puccinellia tenuiflora (C3) and Chloris virgata (C4), to saline-alkaline stresses. Plants were grown at different Na2CO3 concentrations (from 0 to 200 mM). Low Na2CO3 (< 12.5 mM) enhanced seed germination and plant growth, whereas high Na2CO3 concentrations (> 100 mM) reduced seed germination by 45% in P. tenuiflora and by 30% in C. virgata. Compared to C. virgata, P. tenuiflora showed lower net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration, and water-use efficiency under the same treatment. C. virgata exhibited also relatively higher ATP content, K+ concentration, and the K+/Na+ ratio under the stress treatments implying that salt tolerance may be the main mechanism for salt resistance in this species. Our results demonstrated that the C. virgata was relatively more resistant to saline-alkaline stress than the co-occurring P. tenuiflora; both two species adapt to their native saline-alkaline habitat by different physiological mechanisms.
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Abbreviations
- C i :
-
intercellular CO2 concentration
- g s :
-
stomatal conductance
- E :
-
transpiration rate
- EC:
-
electrical conductivity
- P N :
-
net photosynthetic rate
- RDM:
-
relative dry mass
- REL:
-
rate of electrolyte leakage
- RPH:
-
relative plant height
- SGP:
-
seed germination percentage
- WUE:
-
water-use efficiency
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Acknowledgements: We would like to thank Y.Q. Yuan for being a help to the experiment. The work was supported by National Scientific Foundation of China (31170304, 31070228).
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Guo, C.Y., Wang, X.Z., Chen, L. et al. Physiological and biochemical responses to saline-alkaline stress in two halophytic grass species with different photosynthetic pathways. Photosynthetica 53, 128–135 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0094-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-015-0094-5