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. 2019 Jul 30;14(7):e0220340.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220340. eCollection 2019.

Response of seedling growth and physiology of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench to saline-alkali stress

Jingkuan Sun  1 , Lei He  1 , Tian Li  1
Affiliations

Response of seedling growth and physiology of Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench to saline-alkali stress

Jingkuan Sun et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Soil salinization is a serious problem that affects the seedling growth in many regions. A greenhouse experiment was carried to investigate the adaptation ability of seedlings (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.) in coastal saline alkaline environment. Seedlings of sorghum were treated by different salt and alkali stress (NaCl: Na2SO4: NaHCO3 were 2:1:0, 2:1:1, 2:1:2). The treatments consisted of three levels of salinity (100, 200 and 300 mmol/L) and pH values were 7.08, 8.78 and 9.04. The results showed that the seedlings of sorghum have good adaptability to salt stress under low pH (pH ≤7.08). The plant height, the maximum leave areas of seedlings all dropped and root length first ascended and then descended with the increasing of salt and alkali stress. The contents of Chlorophyll b degraded significantly under salt and alkali stress. Salt and alkali stress stimulated the accumulation of organic solutes (proline and protein) and inorganic ions (Na+, Cl-, SO42-). Our results showed that salt and alkali stress have significant effect on growth indexes except root length and the interaction effect has significantly on physiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Response of the persentation of dry biomass of sorghum to saline-alkali stress.
Note: Values represent means±S.E. Values at each treatment group followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.05).
Fig 2
Fig 2. Response of proline and soluble protein content of sorghum to saline-alkali stress.
(A)Proline content. (B) Soluble protein content. Note: Values represent means±S.E. Values at each treatment group followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.05).
Fig 3
Fig 3. Response of inorganic cations and anions of sorghum seedlings to saline-alkali stress.
(A)Na+ content. (B) K+ content. (C) Mg2+ content. (D) Ca2+ content. (E) SO42-content. (F) Cl-content. Note: Values represent means±S.E. Values at each treatment group followed by different letters are significantly different (P < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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