Abstract
The response of soil exchangeable sodium percentage levels to nitrate reductase activity, nitrite reductase activity, free proline, DNA, RNA, chlorophyll a and b contents and yield components in lentil (Lens esculenta Moench)cv. PL 406 was studied in a replicated pot experiment. All the biochemical observations were recorded at four growth stages i.e. 30, 60, 90 and 120 days after sowing (DAS). Germination occurred up to exhangeable sodium percentage of 30, but plants survived only up to 25. With increasing exchangeable sodium percentage, there was a continuous decrease in chlorophyll a and b content, nitrate and nitrite reductase enzyme activities and DNA and RNA content. Increasing level of sodicity enhanced the free proline content up to 60 DAS, after which values fell.
Number of pods per plant, 1000 grain weight and grain yield were significantly reduced with increasing level of sodicity, but the number of grains per pod was not affected.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abdul-Kadir S M and Paulsen G M 1982 Effect of salinity on nitrogen metabolism in wheat. J. Plant Nutr. 5, 1141–1151.
Abrol I P and Bhumla D R 1971 Saline and alkali soils in India — their occurrence and managements.In Report of an Original Seminar on Soil Survey and Soil Fertility Research in Asia and Far East. pp. 42–51. FAO, Rome.
Ashraf M and McNeilly T 1990 Improvement of salt tolerance in maize by selection and breeding. Plant Breeding 104, 101–107.
Aslam M, Huffakar R C and Rains D W 1984 Early effects of salinity on nitrate assimilation in barley seedlings. Plant Physiol. 76, 321–335.
Arnon D I 1949 Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplast, polyphenol oxidase inBeta vulgaris. Plant Physiol. 24, 1–15.
Bajawa M S and Bhumbla D R 1971 Relationship between root cation exchange capacity and sodium tolerance of different crops. Plant and Soil 34, 51–63.
Bates I S, Waldren R P and Teare I D 1973 Rapid determination of free proline for water stress studies. Plant and Soil 39, 205–208.
Benzioni A, Vaadia Y and Lips S H 1971) Nitrate uptake by roots as regulated by nitrate reduction products in the shoot. Physiol. Plant. 24, 288–290.
Bloom-Zandstra G and Lampe J E M 1983 The effect of chloride and sulphate salt on nitrate contents in lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa L.). J. Plant Nutr. 6, 611–628.
Breteles H, Hamish C H and Cate T 1978 Ionic balance of root shoot nitrate transfer in dwarf bean. Physiol. Plant. 42, 53–56.
Burton K 1956 Study of the condition and mechanism of disphenylamine reaction for colorimetric estimation of DNA. Biochem. J. 62, 1315–1323.
Byrne D H 1988 Comparative growth of two peach seedling root-stocks under alkaline soil conditions. J. Plant Nutr. 11, 1663–1669
Dutt S K 1988 Soil salinity effects on the process of grain filling in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) varieties. Indian J. Plant Physiol. 31 222–227.
El-Sharkawi H M, Salame F M and Mazen A A 1986 Chlorophyll responses to salinity, sodicity and heat stresses in cotton, rama and millet. Photosynthetica 20, 204–211.
Ferari T E and Varner J E (1971) Intact tissue assay for nitrate reductase in barley aleurone layers. Plant Physiol. 47, 790–794.
Gill K S 1987 Effect of soil alkalinity on growth, yield and some biochemical parameters at grain filling stages in cowpea andSesbania cannabina. Indian J. Plant Physiol. 30, 38–41.
Heimer Y M 1973 The effect of sodium chloride and glycerol on the activity of nitrate reductase of a salt-tolerant and two non-tolerant plants. Planta 113, 229–281.
Helal H M and Mengel K 1979 Nitrogen metabolism of young barley plants as affected by NaCl salinity and potassium. Plant and Soil 51, 457–462.
Hewitt J 1975 Regulation of nitrate reductase activity by the presence of cations. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. 26, 73.
Hsiao T C 1970 Rapid changes in levels of polyribosomes inZea mays in response to water stress. Plant Physiol. 46, 281–285.
Jaworski E 1971 Nitrate reductase assay in intact plant tissues. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 43, 1274–1279.
Kozlowski T T 1972 Water Deficit and Plant Growth, Academic Press, New York.
Lacuesta M, Gonzalez-Moro B, Gonzale-Murua C and Muñoz-Rueda A 1990 Temporal study of the effect of phosphinothricin on the activity of glutamine synthetase, glutamate dehydrogenase and nitrate reductase inMedicago sativa L. J. Plant Physiol. 136, 410–414.
Lapina I P and Popov 1970 Effect of sodium chloride on the photosynthetic apparatus of tomatoes. Fiziol. Rast. 17, 580–585.
Lycklama J C 1963 The absorption of ammonium and nitrate by perrenial rye grass. Acta Bot. Neerl. 12, 361–423.
Martinez V and Cuder A 1989 Nitrate reductase activity in tomato and cucumber leaves as influenced by NaCl and N sources. J. Plant Nutr. 12, 1325–1350.
Neiman R H and Poulsen L L 1963 Spectrophotometric estimation of nucleic acid of plant leaves. Plant Physiol. 38, 31–35.
Peach K and Tracey M V 1955 Modern Methods of Plant Analysis. Springer Verlag, Berlin.
Plaut Z, Grieve M and Maas E V 1990 Salinity effects on CO2 assimilation and diffusive conductance of cowpea leaves. Physiol Plant. 79, 31–38.
Plaut Z 1974 Nitrate reductase activity of wheat seedlings during exposure to and recovery from water stress and salinity. Physiol. Plant. 30, 212–217.
Radin J W 1975 Differential regulation of nitrate reductase induction in roots and shoots of cotton plants. Plant Physiol. 55, 178–182.
Rausser W E and Hanson J B 1966 The metabolic status of RNA in soybean roots exposed to saline media. Can. J. Bot. 44, 759–776.
Reddy M P and Vora A B 1986 Changes in pigment composition, hill reaction activity and saccharides metabolism in Bajra (Pennisetum typhoids H) leaves under NaCl salinity. Photosynthetica 20, 50–55.
Shaner D L and Boyer J S 1976 Nitrate reducatase activity in maize (Zea mays L.) leaves. II. Regulation by nitrate flux at low water potential. Plant Physiol. 58, 499–504.
Singh A K and Singh B B 1989 Effect of sodicity on dry matter partitioning and yield components in linseed cultivars.In Proceedings of National Seminar on Strategies in Physiological Regulation of Plant Productivity. 27–29 Dec. Bombay, India.
Singh Maharaj, Singh B B and Ram P C 1990 Effect of iso-osmotic levels of salt and PEG-6000 on sugars, free proline and nitrogen content during early seedling growth of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Biol. Plant. 32, 232–237.
Singh Maharaj, Singh B B and Ram PC (1990) Effect of iso-osmotic levels of salt and PEG-6000 on germination and early seedling growth of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Biol. Plant. 32 226–231.
Singh M P, Pandey S K, Singh Maharaj, Ram P C and Singh B B 1990 Mustard Physiology Under Stress I. Photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance and leaf chlorophyll content of Brassica genotypes grown under sodic conditions. Photosynthetica 24 (In press.).
Singh S B and Abrol I P 1985 Effect of soil sodicity on growth, yield and chemical composition of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea linn.). Plant and Soil 84, 123–127.
Singh S B and Abrol I P 1986 Effect of soil sodicity on growth, yield and chemical composition of soybean. J. Indian Soc. Soil Sci. 34, 568–571.
Smith G R and Middleton K R 1980 Sodium nutrition of pasture plants. II. Effect of sodium chloride on growth, chemical composition and the reduction of nitrate nitrogen. New Phytol. 84, 613–622.
Tragis R L, Jordan W R and Huffaker R C 1969 Evidence for an inactivating system of nitrate reductase inHordeum vulgare L. during darkness that requires protein synthesis. Plant Physiol. 44, 1150–1156.
Trogisch G D, Kocher H and Ullrich W R 1989 Effect of glufosinate on anion uptake inLemna gibba G 1. Naturforsch 44, 33–38.
Walker R R, Torokfalvy E, Scott N S and Kriedemann P E 1981 An analysis of photosynthetic response to salt treatment inVitis vinifera. Aust. J. Plant Physiol. 8, 359–374.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tewari, T.N., Singh, B.B. Stress studies in lentil (Lens esculenta Moench). Plant Soil 136, 225–230 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02150053
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02150053