Additive effects of Na+ and Cl- ions on barley growth under salinity stress

Abstract

Soil salinity affects large areas of the world's cultivated land, causing significant reductions in crop yield. Despite the fact that most plants accumulate both sodium (Na(+)) and chloride (Cl(-)) ions in high concentrations in their shoot tissues when grown in saline soils, most research on salt tolerance in annual plants has focused on the toxic effects of Na(+) accumulation. It has previously been suggested that Cl(-) toxicity may also be an important cause of growth reduction in barley plants. Here, the extent to which specific ion toxicities of Na(+) and Cl(-) reduce the growth of barley grown in saline soils is shown under varying salinity treatments using four barley genotypes differing in their salt tolerance in solution and soil-based systems. High Na(+), Cl(-), and NaCl separately reduced the growth of barley, however, the reductions in growth and photosynthesis were greatest under NaCl stress and were mainly additive of the effects of Na(+) and Cl(-) stress. The results demonstrated that Na(+) and Cl(-) exclusion among barley genotypes are independent mechanisms and different genotypes expressed different combinations of the two mechanisms. High concentrations of Na(+) reduced K(+) and Ca(2+) uptake and reduced photosynthesis mainly by reducing stomatal conductance. By comparison, high Cl(-) concentration reduced photosynthetic capacity due to non-stomatal effects: there was chlorophyll degradation, and a reduction in the actual quantum yield of PSII electron transport which was associated with both photochemical quenching and the efficiency of excitation energy capture. The results also showed that there are fundamental differences in salinity responses between soil and solution culture, and that the importance of the different mechanisms of salt damage varies according to the system under which the plants were grown.

Fig. 1.

The whole shoot concentration of Na⁺ (black circles) and Cl^– (open circles) of Barque73 and Tadmor as a function of the external concentration of Na⁺ and Cl^– in hydroponic solution (a, b) and the relationship between relative shoot dry matter (%) and shoot Na⁺ and Cl^– concentration. The dry matter weight of Barque73 and Tadmor in the control treatment was 4.45 g and 4.59 g, respectively. Bars indicate the standard error of the means. Fitted curves for (a) and (b) are derived from linear or exponential regressions, while the curves in (c) and (d) are the best fit of gaussian equation (three parameters). Values are means (n=3).

Fig. 2.

Effects of NaCl (120 mM) in the presence and absence of DIDS (0.07 mM), Na⁺-gluconate (120 mM), Na⁺-dominated Hoagland (120 mM), and Cl^–-dominated Hoagland (120 mM) on shoot dry weight of (a) Barque73, (b) Clipper, (c) Sahara, and (d) Tadmor grown for 49 d. Values are averages (n=3). LSD_0.05=0.089 and CV=2.1%.

Fig. 3.

The daily changes of water use (a, c, e, g) and cumulative water use (b, d, f, h) of four genotypes of barley under different levels of soil salinity generated from Cl^–-salts (black squares), Na⁺-salts (open squares) or NaCl-salt (open circles) compared with the control (black circles) treatments. A sigmoidal curve fitted to the data of cumulative water use. Values are averages (n=3).