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Salinity and Water Stress Effects on Biomass Production in Different Arundo donax L. Clones

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Abstract

Perennial rhizomatous grasses are regarded as leading energy crops due to their environmental benefits and their suitability to regions with adverse conditions. In this paper, two different experiments were carried out in order to study the salinity (S) and water stress (WS) effects on biomass production in giant reed (Arundo donax L.). In Experiment 1, eight clones of giant reed were subjected to four salinity (S) and water stress (WS) treatments: (1) well watered with non-saline solution, (2) water stress with non-saline solution, (3) well watered with saline solution and 4) water stress with saline solution. In Experiment 2, five clones of giant reed were subjected to increasing S levels in two locations: University of Catania (UNICT-Italy) (1) well watered with non-saline solution and (2) well watered with mild saline solution; and University of Barcelona (UB-Spain) (3) well watered with non-saline solution and (4) well watered with severe saline solution. Photosynthetic and physiological parameters as well as biomass production were measured in these plants. According to our data, giant reed seems to be more tolerant to S than WS. Both stresses mainly affected stomatal closure to prevent dehydration of the plant, eventually decreasing the photosynthetic rate. The differential performance of the giant reed clones was ranked according to their tolerance to S and WS by using the Stress Susceptibility Index. ‘Agrigento’ was the most WS resistant clone and ‘Martinensis’ was the most S resistant. ‘Martinensis’ and ‘Piccoplant’ were found to be the most suitable clones for growing under both stress conditions. Moreover, ‘Fondachello’, ‘Cefalú’ and ‘Licata’ were the most resistant clones to increasing S levels.

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Abbreviations

Asat :

light saturated net CO2 assimilation rate (μmol m−2 s−1)

DLP:

complete dry leaves percentage (%)

DM:

dry matter (g)

FC:

field capacity

g s :

stomatal conductance (mol m−2 s−1)

gLA:

green leaf area (m2)

GLP:

complete green leaves percentage (%)

H:

height (cm)

LAR:

leaf area ratio (m2 Kg−1)

LWR:

leaf weight ratio (Kg Kg−1)

NL:

number of leaves

NS:

number of stems

PPFD:

photosynthetic photon flux density

PRG:

perennial rhizomatous grasses

RWC:

relative water content (%)

S :

salinity

SA:

stem area (m2)

SLA:

specific leaf area (m2 Kg−1)

S/R:

shoot/root ratio (g g−1)

SSI:

stress susceptibility index

TDW:

total dry weight (g)

WS :

water stress

YLP:

complete yellow leaves percentage (%)

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the support of OPTIMA project (Optimization of perennial grasses for biomass production in the Mediterranean area, Grant Agreement no. 289642) and CONICYT (Comisión Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología) BecasChile 72120250 grant for financial support to ES.

Author Contribution

Study conception and design: ES, DS, SC, SN; Acquisition of data: ES, DS, GL, CA; Analysis and interpretation of data: ES, DS, SN; Drafting of manuscript: ES; Critical revision: DS, SC, SN.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Facultad de Biologia, Universidad de Barcelona, Avda. Diagonal 643, 28028, Barcelona, Spain

    E. Sánchez, G. Lino, C. Arias & S. Nogués

  2. Dipartimento di Agricoltura, Alimentazione e Ambiente – Di3A, University of Catania, Via Valdisavoia 5, 95123, Catania, Italy

    D. Scordia & S. L. Cosentino

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  1. E. Sánchez
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  2. D. Scordia
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  3. G. Lino
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  4. C. Arias
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  5. S. L. Cosentino
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  6. S. Nogués
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Correspondence to E. Sánchez.

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Sánchez, E., Scordia, D., Lino, G. et al. Salinity and Water Stress Effects on Biomass Production in Different Arundo donax L. Clones. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 1461–1479 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-015-9652-8

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