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NaCl improved Cd tolerance of the euhalophyte Suaeda glauca but not the recretohalophyte Limonium aureum

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Abstract

Aims

This study aimed to examine the effects of NaCl on Cd tolerance of two halophytes with contrasting salt-tolerance ability: the euhalophyte Suaeda glauca and the recretohalophyte Limonium aureum.

Methods

Plant growth, photosynthesis and physiological responses of two halophytes were measured in a pot experiment treated with 0, 3 and 6 mg kg−1 Cd in combination with 0 and 0.3% NaCl.

Results

Both halophytes exhibited fair-level (moderate level) Cd tolerant ability. NaCl mitigated Cd-induced toxicity on the growth and photosynthesis of S. glauca, particularly under low Cd level, while a negative effect of NaCl was observed in L. aureum. Moreover, activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) in leaves of S. glauca were boosted by Cd and/or salinity treatment. Although similar responses were observed, the overall increase of enzymatic activities in L. aureum was lower than in S. glauca. The soluble protein content in two species showed an opposite trend among treatments, whereas the proline accumulation in L. aureum was exceptionally higher than that in S. glauca under saline conditions. The nutrient concentrations of these two halophytes were only slightly affected by Cd excess, and NaCl significantly enhanced their Na accumulation, regardless of the plant’s organ and Cd level. In addition, Cd absorption and translocation were greatly enhanced by NaCl in the two halophytes.

Conclusions

Salt-induced alleviation of Cd toxicity in S. glauca might be mainly attributed to salt-triggered secondary metabolic strategy, which deffers from the energy-consuming adaptive strategy employed by L. aureum.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the Chongqing Municipality Key Forestry Research Project (No. TD2019-2), Chongqing Municipality Housing and Urban Construction Committee (No. Chengkezi 2019-1-4-2), Forestry Extension Project of China Central Finance (No. Yulinketui 2017-12) and International Sci-Tech Cooperation Project of Ministry of Science and Technology (No. 2015DFA90900). We are grateful to Ms. Ying Wu for her technical assistance during the tests and also to Mr. Yusheng Liang for his valuable suggestions on the manuscript. The two anonymous reviewers and Editor Dr. Antony van der Ent are greatly appreciated for their thoughtful and insightful comments that helped us improve our manuscript significantly.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Eco-Environments in Three Gorges Reservoir Region (Ministry of Education), State Cultivation Base of Eco-agriculture for Southwest Mountainous Land, College of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China

    Songlin Zhang, Muhammad Arif, Jie Zheng & Changxiao Li

  2. Breeding Base for State Key Laboratory of Land Degradation and Ecological Restoration of North-western China, Key Lab for Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in North-western China (Ministry of Education), Ningxia University, Yinchuan, 750000, China

    Xilu Ni

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, S7N 5C9, Canada

    Annastacia Stubbs

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  1. Songlin Zhang
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  2. Xilu Ni
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  3. Muhammad Arif
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  4. Jie Zheng
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Contributions

Conceptualization: C.L., X.N., S.Z.; Methodology: X.N., S.Z.; Formal analysis and investigation: X.N., S.Z., M.A., J.Z.; Writing - original draft preparation: S.Z., M.A.; Writing - review and editing: C.L., S.Z., M.A., J.Z., A.S.; Funding acquisition: C.L.; Resources: C.L., X.N.; Supervision: C.L..

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Correspondence to Changxiao Li.

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Zhang, S., Ni, X., Arif, M. et al. NaCl improved Cd tolerance of the euhalophyte Suaeda glauca but not the recretohalophyte Limonium aureum. Plant Soil 449, 303–318 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04475-7

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