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Sodium plays a more important role than potassium and chloride in growth of Salicornia europaea

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Abstract

Salicornia europaea is a succulent euhalophyte that belongs to the Chenopodiaceae family. It is found that moderate concentration of NaCl can dramatically stimulate the growth of S. europaea plants. To elucidate the mechanism underlying the phenomenon, morphological and physiological changes of S. europaea in response to different ions, including cations (Na+, K+, Li+, Cs+) and anions (Cl−, NO3 −, CH3COO−) were investigated, and the effects of Na+, Cl− and K+ on the growth of S. europaea were also studied. Na+ was more effective than K+ and Cl− in stimulating shoot succulence, cell expansion, and stomatal opening. Plants treated with Na+ (including NaCl, Na+, NaNO3) showed better plant growth, increased photosynthesis and less cell membrane damage than those untreated and treated with 200 mM of Cl− and K+ (including KCl and KNO3). Both SEM-X-Ray microanalysis and flame emission results revealed that well developed S. europaea plants had a higher content of sodium but lower potassium and chlorine. It is concluded that sodium plays a more important role in the growth and development of S. europaea than potassium and chloride.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank for Drs. Liqin Li and Dong Zheng for their technical help on X-ray microanalysis. This work was supported by the Research Program from the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (Grant No. 2009ZX08009-101B) and the Knowledge Innovation Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KSCX2-EW-J-1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Photosynthesis and Environmental Molecular Physiology, Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100093, People’s Republic of China

    Sulian Lv, Lingling Nie, Pengxiang Fan, Xuchu Wang, Dan Jiang, Xianyang Chen & Yinxin Li

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  1. Sulian Lv
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  2. Lingling Nie
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  3. Pengxiang Fan
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  4. Xuchu Wang
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  7. Yinxin Li
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Correspondence to Yinxin Li.

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Communicated by S. Renault.

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Lv, S., Nie, L., Fan, P. et al. Sodium plays a more important role than potassium and chloride in growth of Salicornia europaea . Acta Physiol Plant 34, 503–513 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-011-0847-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-011-0847-0

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