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Vigor and salt tolerance in 3 lines of tall wheatgrass
Author(s) -
Weimberg Ralph,
Shan Michael C.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1988.tb00591.x
Subject(s) - salinity , dusk , betaine , sucrose , osmotic pressure , saline , starch , biology , botany , zoology , osmoregulation , sodium , horticulture , chemistry , food science , biochemistry , ecology , organic chemistry , endocrinology
The F 1 progeny of the cross of two salt‐tolerant lines of Thinopyrum elongatum [Host] D. R. Dewey grew better than either parent under non‐saline and saline growth conditions. Under non‐saline conditions, the hybrid produced 1.8 times as much vegetative tissue as one parent and 3.2 times more than the other parent in the same length of time. The relative growth rates of the 2 parental lines decreased equally as media osmotic potentials decreased. The relative growth rate of the hybrid did not decrease as rapidly as that of the parents; therefore, it was concluded that the greater growth of the hybrid was due to increased salt tolerance. Carbohydrate reserves and water‐soluble solutes believed to be involved in osmotic adjustment were assayed to determine if there were any differences between the hybrid and its parents in their abilities to accumulate these compounds. The concentrations of these constituents were measured at dawn and at dusk of the same day in plants grown in media at osmotic potentials ranging from –0.1 to –1.2 MPa. There were no differences in pool sizes of the organic compounds in the 3 lines. Starch increased 10–40 fold in leaves from dawn to dusk and sucrose increased 100‐fold. However, this pattern was unaffected by salinity. Conversely, betaine concentrations increased with increasing salinity but were the same at dawn and dusk. Na + and K + were affected by both light and salinity. Cl was one‐half (Na + + K + ) on a molar basis under all conditions. Proline accumulated when (Na + + K + ) exceeded 200 μmol (g fresh weight) −1 . Since this amount of (Na + + K + ) existed only in tissues harvested at dusk from severely saline‐stressed plants, only leaves from such plants harvested at dusk contained proline.