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Tolerance of Mitragyna parvifolia (Roxb.) Korth. seedlings to NaCl salinity

  • Original Paper
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Photosynthetica

Abstract

Increase in salinity is predicted to affect plant growth and survival in most arid and semiarid regions worldwide. Mitragyna parvifolia (Roxb.) Korth. is an important medicinal tree species distributed throughout the semiarid regions of India; however, it is facing a threat of its extinction in its natural habitat. We examined the effects of increasing NaCl salinity on two-month-old M. parvifolia seedlings grown in an environment-controlled chamber and exposed to soils of different electrical conductivity (EC) caused by NaCl [0–5 (control), 5–10, 10–15, 15–20, and 20–25 dS m−1)] for 85 days. Seedlings transferred to soil of EC >15 dS m−1 did not survive beyond 1 week. Increase in the Na+ concentration negatively correlated with their height and positively correlated with their water-use efficiency (WUE). However, leaf area, net photosynthetic rate (P N), stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate showed varying correlations and an overall decrease in these parameters compared with the control. At EC of 10–15 dS m−1, the seedling height was reduced by 37% and P N was lowered by 50% compared with those of the control. An increase in the Na+/K+ ratio was observed with increasing salinity. The maximum quantum efficiency of PSII significantly decreased with increasing salinity compared with the control. Our results suggest that the increase in salinity reduced the overall performance of the M. parvifolia seedlings. However, the maintenance of WUE and maximum quantum efficiency of PSII might help M. parvifolia to tolerate NaCl salinity of 15 dS m−1.

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Abbreviations

Chl:

chlorophyll

E :

transpiration rate

Fo :

minimal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state

Fm :

maximal fluorescence yield of the dark-adapted state

Fv/Fm :

maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry

g s :

stomatal conductance

S1:

0–5 dS m−1 NaCl (control)

S2:

5–10 dS m−1

S3:

10–15 dS m−1

S4:

15–20 dS m−1

S5:

20–25 dS m−1

LA:

leaf area

P N :

net photosynthetic rate

WUE:

water-use efficiency (= P N/E)

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    A. Bidalia, M. Hanief & K. S. Rao

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  1. A. Bidalia
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  2. M. Hanief
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  3. K. S. Rao
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Correspondence to A. Bidalia.

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Acknowledgments: We are grateful to Govindjee, Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Plant Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for discussions and reading the earlier draft of our manuscript. We thank Dr. Chirashree Ghosh, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, for providing access to the growth chamber facility. We also acknowledge the Forest Department of the state of Rajasthan (India) for permission to collect seeds from the forest and the University Grants Commission, India for financial support. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions and Enago (www.enago.com) for the English-language review.

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Bidalia, A., Hanief, M. & Rao, K.S. Tolerance of Mitragyna parvifolia (Roxb.) Korth. seedlings to NaCl salinity. Photosynthetica 55, 231–239 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11099-016-0224-8

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