Abstract
The effects of NaCl stress on the growth and photosynthetic characters of Ulmus pumila L. seedlings were investigated under sand culture condition. With increasing NaCl concentration, main stem height, branch number, leaf number, and leaf area declined, while Na+ content and the Na+/K+ ratio in both expanded and expanding leaves increased. Na+ content was significantly higher in expanded leaves than in those just expanding. Chlorophyll (Chl) a and Chl b contents declined as NaCl concentration increased. The net photosynthetic rate, intercellular CO2 concentration, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate also declined, but stomatal limitation value increased as NaCl concentration increased. Both the maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry and the effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry declined as NaCl concentration rose. These results suggest that the accumulation of Na+ in already expanded leaves might reduce damage to the expanding leaves and help U. pumila endure high salinity. The reduced photosynthesis in response to salt stress was mainly caused by stomatal limitation.
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Abbreviations
- C a :
-
ambient CO2 concentration
- Chl:
-
chlorophyll
- C i :
-
intercellular CO2 concentration
- DM:
-
dry mass
- E :
-
transpiration rate
- F0 :
-
minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state
- Fm :
-
maximal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state
- Fm′:
-
maximal fluorescence yield of the light-adapted state
- Fs :
-
steady-state fluorescence yield
- Fv :
-
variable fluorescence
- Fv/Fm :
-
maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry
- FM:
-
fresh mass
- g s :
-
stomatal conductance
- LA:
-
leaf area
- Ls :
-
stomatal limitation value
- P N :
-
net photosynthetic rate
- QA :
-
primary quinone acceptor of PSII
- QB :
-
secondary quinone acceptor of PSII
- S0, S100, S200, S300:
-
treatment with 0, 100, 200, and 300 mM NaCl, respectively
- ΦPSII :
-
effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry
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Acknowledgements: This research was supported by the National Natural Science Research Foundation of China, project No. 30870138 and No. 31070158, and key projects in the national science and technology pillar program during the eleventh five-year plan period (2009BADA7B05).
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Feng, Z.T., Deng, Y.Q., Fan, H. et al. Effects of NaCl stress on the growth and photosynthetic characteristics of Ulmus pumila L. seedlings in sand culture. Photosynthetica 52, 313–320 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-014-0032-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-014-0032-y