Abstract
Aims
Soil salinity varies greatly in the plant rhizosphere. The effect of nonuniform salinity on the growth and physiology response of alfalfa plants was determined to improve understanding of salt stress tolerance mechanisms of alfalfa.
Methods
Plant growth, predawn leaf water potential, water uptake, and tissue ionic content were studied in alfalfa plants grown hydroponically for 9 days using a split-root system, with uniform salinity or horizontally nonuniform salinity treatments (0/S, 75/S, and 150/S corresponding to 0, 75, and 150 mM NaCl on the low salt side, respectively).
Results
Compared with uniform high salinity, 0/S and 75/S treatments significantly increased the alfalfa shoot dry mass and stem extension rate. Compensatory water uptake by low salt roots of 0/S and 75/S treatments was observed. However, decreased leaf Na+ concentration, increased leaf K+/Na+, and compensatory growth of roots on the low salt side were observed only following the 0/S treatment.
Conclusions
Nonuniform salinity dose not enhance plant growth once a threshold NaCl concentration in low salinity growth medium has been reached. Compensation of water uptake from the low-salt root zone and regulation of K+/Na+ homeostasis in low salt root play more important role than regulation of leaf ions in enhancing alfalfa growth under nonuniform salinity.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the earmarked fund for China Agricultural Research System (CARS-35) and the Fundamental Research Funds for Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1610332012003, 1610332014007).
Author contributions
YZ and JS conceived and designed the research. JS, GY, and WZ conducted the experiments. JS and GY analyzed the data. YZ and JS wrote the manuscript.
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Responsible Editor: Timothy J. Flowers.
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Sun, J., Yang, G., Zhang, W. et al. Effects of heterogeneous salinity on growth, water uptake, and tissue ion concentrations of alfalfa. Plant Soil 408, 211–226 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2922-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-016-2922-1