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Evaluation of salinity tolerance in seedlings of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars using proline, soluble sugars and cation accumulation criteria

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Abstract

Salinity tolerance of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars in terms of growth, proline and soluble sugars concentrations, and Na+/K+ and Na+/Ca2+ ratios were analyzed in this study. Three-week-old seedlings of three sugar beet cultivars, ‘Gantang7’, ‘SD13829’, and ‘ST21916’, differing in salinity tolerance, were treated with 0, 50, 100, and 200 mM NaCl. Plant shoots and roots were harvested at 7 days after treatment and subjected to analysis. Low concentration of NaCl (50 mM) enhanced fresh and dry weights of shoot and root in ‘Gantang7’, whereas high one (200 mM) reduced growth in all cultivars and the less reduction was observed in ‘ST21916’. Shoot proline was strongly induced by salinity stress in both ‘Gantang7’ and ‘SD13829’, while it remained unchanged in ‘ST21916’. The addition of 50 mM NaCl significantly increased shoot soluble sugars concentrations in ‘Gantang7’ while it had no significant effects in the other two cultivars. ‘Gantang7’ also showed a higher level of root soluble sugars concentration as compared to the other two cultivars. At 50 mM NaCl, the lower shoot Na+ concentration, and the higher shoot K+ and root Ca2+ concentration in ‘Gantang7’ resulted in the lower shoot Na+/K+ and root Na+/Ca2+ ratio. However, ‘SD13829’ maintained a lower Na+/K+ ratio in both shoot and root when subjected to 200 mM NaCl treatment. According to comprehensive evaluation on salinity tolerance, it is clear that ‘Gantang7’ is more tolerant to salinity than the other two cultivars. Therefore, it is suggested that ‘Gantang7’ should be more suitable for cultivating in the arid and semi-arid irrigated regions.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

DW:

Dry weight

FW:

Fresh weight

WC:

Water content

SA:

The capacity of selective absorption for Na+ over K+

SE:

Standard error

ST:

The capacity of selective transport for Na+ over K+

Ψs :

Osmotic potential

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31260294) and the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province, China (Grant No. 1208RJZA238). We thank Prof. Suo-Min Wang’s lab at Lanzhou University for providing facility for osmotic potential measurement. We are also grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions and comments on the initial version of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, 730050, People’s Republic of China

    Guo-Qiang Wu, Na Liang, Rui-Jun Feng & Jing-Jing Zhang

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  1. Guo-Qiang Wu
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  2. Na Liang
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  3. Rui-Jun Feng
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  4. Jing-Jing Zhang
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Correspondence to Guo-Qiang Wu.

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Communicated by R. Aroca.

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Wu, GQ., Liang, N., Feng, RJ. et al. Evaluation of salinity tolerance in seedlings of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cultivars using proline, soluble sugars and cation accumulation criteria. Acta Physiol Plant 35, 2665–2674 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-013-1298-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-013-1298-6

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