Salt treatment (50 mM NaCl) reduced plant growth of loquat (Eribotria japonica Lindl.) (by up to 40%) but not that of anger (Cydonia oblonga Mill.). Salt stress induced a strong leaf Na+ accumulation in both species. However, the observed increase in leaf Cl– level was higher in loquat (13-fold) than in anger plants (3.8-fold). Addition of Ca2+ (25 mM) significantly reduced Na+ and Cl– concentrations in both salt-treated species. In anger leaves, calcium addition to the nutrient media did not change the leaf calcium contents in salt-treated or untreated plants, this value being lower in salt-treated plants. However, in loquat plants, an increase in leaf Ca2+ was observed after the calcium addition. Surprisingly, an increase in Ca2+ concentration was also observed in salt-treated loquat plants. In general, anger plants had higher constitutive antioxidant enzyme levels in both control and salt-treated plants. Salt stress did not change antioxidant enzyme levels in loquat plants. A similar effect was observed in anger plants, but in this case a 2-fold induction of monodehydroascorbate reductase (MDHAR) activity was observed.In both species, salinity produced an oxidative stress, indicated by an increase in lipid peroxidation, this value being much higher in loquat (83%) than in anger (40%) plants. In salt-treated plants, Ca2+ addition provided some protection to the membranes, because the increases observed in thiobarbituric-acid-reactive substances (TBARS) were not significant.In contrast, in control plants Ca2+ treatments increased glutathione reductase (GR) and decreased catalase activity in anger, but increased MDHAR, dehydroascorbate reductase (DHAR), GR and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in loquat plants. In salt-treated plants, Ca2+ additions decreased catalase (CAT) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) for anger and raised DHAR, GR and SOD for loquat. However, the mechanism by which Ca2+ regulates antioxidant enzymes remains to be determined.These results suggest that anger plants have a higher capacity to scavenge AOS, both under saline and non-saline conditions. Accordingly, and related to the smaller Cl– increase observed, anger plants are more salt-tolerant, at least partly owing to the higher antioxidant enzyme levels observed.

We studied the effect of salicylic acid (SA) treatment on the response of pea plants to salinity. Sodium chloride (NaCl)-induced damage to leaves was increased by SA, which was correlated with a reduction in plant growth. The content of reduced ascorbate and glutathione in leaves of salt-treated plants increased in response to SA, although accumulation of the respective oxidised forms occurred. An increase in hydrogen peroxide also occurred in leaves of salt-exposed plants treated with SA. In the absence of NaCl, SA increased ascorbate peroxidase (APX; 100 μm) and glutathione-S transferase (GST; 50 μm) activities and increased catalase (CAT) activity in a concentration-dependent manner. Salinity decreased glutathione reductase (GR) activity, but increased GST and CAT activity. In salt-stressed plants, SA also produced changes in antioxidative enzymes: 100 μm SA decreased APX but increased GST. Finally, a concentration-dependent increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity was induced by SA treatment in salt-stressed plants. Induction of PR-1b was observed in NaCl-stressed plants treated with SA. The treatment with SA, as well as the interaction between salinity and SA treatment, had a significant effect on PsMAPK3 expression. The expression of PsMAPK3 was not altered by 70 mm NaCl, but was statistically higher in the absence than in the presence of SA. Overall, the results show that SA treatment negatively affected the response of pea plants to NaCl, and this response correlated with an imbalance in antioxidant metabolism. The data also show that SA treatment could enhance the resistance of salt-stressed plants to possible opportunistic pathogen attack, as suggested by increased PR-1b gene expression.

1993. Effect of salinity on growth, ion content and CO2 assimilation rate in lemon varieties on different rootstocks. -Physiol. Plant. 89: 427^32.Citrus rootstocks as well as lemon scions differ in their ability to restrict sodium and chloride ions and in their sensitivity to saline stress. To determine the behaviour of different rootstock-scion combinations, 3 lemon cultivars on 3 different rootstocks were grown in containers in a greenhouse and irrigated with 5, 25 and 50 mM NaCl. Growth of the plants and foliar contents of sodium and chloride as well as physiological parameters including transpiration rate, gas exchange, stomatal conductance and chlorophyll content were evaluated. Shoot length of the plants on sour orange and on C. volkameriana showed a greater reduction with salinity than those on C. macrophylla. Accumulation of salt in the leaves was also scion dependent, cv. 'Eureka' having higher concentrations of sodium and chloride than the others. Assimilation rate of CO2 and stomatal conductance were greatly reduced by salinity in the leaves of Vema and Eureka on sour orange. Gas exchange in the leaves was highly correlated with chloride and sodium contents in all lemon-rootstock combinations. C. macrophylla showed a higher resistance to salinity than C. volkameriana and sour orange. Inferences on the mechanisms of action of salt on lemon trees are discussed.

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In the present manuscript the short term effect (3–24 h) of a saline shock (NaCl 100 mM) on fresh weight, water content, respiration rate, ethylene production and Na+, Cl-, ACC and polyamine concentration was studied in four plant species with different salt sensitivity, pepper, lettuce, spinach, and beetroot. Higher reduction in fresh weight and water content as a consequence of saline shock was found in pepper and lettuce plants than in spinach and beetroot, the latter behaving as more salinity tolerant. In general, salinity led to rapid increases in respiration rate, ethylene production and ACC and polyamine (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) concentrations in shoot and root. These increases were related to plant salinity sensitivity, since they were higher in the most sensitive species and vice versa. However, ethylene and respiration rates in salt stressed plants recovered similar values to controls after 24 h of treatment in salt tolerant plants, while still remaining high in the most sensitive. On the other hand, sudden increases in putrescine, spermidine, and spermine concentration were higher and occurred earlier in pepper and lettuce, the most sensitive species, than in spinach and beetroot, the less sensitive ones. These increases tended to disappear after 24 h, except in lettuce. These changes would support the conclusion that ethylene and polyamine increases could be considered as a plant response to saline shock and related to the plant species sensitivity to this stress. In addition, no competition between polyamines and ethylene biosynthesis for their common precursor was observed.