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The best salt solution parameter to describe seed/seedling responses to saline and sodic salts

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Abstract

Background and aims

Results of studies on plant responses to salt stress often are difficult to compare because different salt parameters were used. Our aim was to compare the effects of different combinations of sodium salts on germination/seedling growth of two forage species and determine which salt solution parameter(s) was(were) most closely related to these responses.

Methods

Seeds of the legume Medicago sativa and the grass Elymus dahuricus were germinated in different concentrations of saline and sodic salts. Various parameters of the salt solutions were determined, and seed germination and seedling growth metrics were measured.

Results

Seeds of both species were more tolerant to saline than to sodic salts, and seedlings of E. dahuricus were more salt tolerant than those of M. sativa. Na2SO4 and Na2CO3 were more inhibitory to germination/growth of the two study species than the same concentration of NaCl and NaHCO3 for saline and sodic salts, respectively. For both species, electrical conductivity, salt content (%) and Na+ concentration best correlated with germination/growth for saline salts and Na+ concentration for sodic salts.

Conclusions

In evaluating the effects of salt on seed germination and seedling growth, both saline and sodic salts need to be considered, and Na+ concentration is the best salt solution parameter to use in comparing and communicating the results.

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Abbreviations

EC:

Electrical conductivity

Ψp :

Water potential

C:

Salt concentration

S:

Salt content

GP:

Germination percentage

GT:

Time to start of germination

RL:

Root length

SL:

Shoot length

Ch:

Chlorophyll content

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ms. Zongying Hu for help with the experiments and Prof. Jerry Baskin for his useful comments on the manuscript. This study was funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (2015CB150800) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41571055).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jilin Provincial Laboratory of Grassland Farming, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, 130102, China

    Hongxiang Zhang & Daowei Zhou

  2. Animal Science and Technology College, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, 130118, China

    Yu Tian & Zewei Sun

  3. Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, China

    Bo Guan

  4. Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA and Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, 40546, USA

    Carol C. Baskin

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  1. Hongxiang Zhang
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  2. Yu Tian
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  3. Bo Guan
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  4. Daowei Zhou
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Correspondence to Daowei Zhou or Zewei Sun.

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Responsible Editor: Jeffrey Walck.

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Zhang, H., Tian, Y., Guan, B. et al. The best salt solution parameter to describe seed/seedling responses to saline and sodic salts. Plant Soil 426, 313–325 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-018-3623-8

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