Short-Term Responses to Salinity of Soybean and Chenopodium album Grown in Single and Mixed-Species Hydroponic Systems

Abstract

Weeds account for losses in crop yields, and this event might be exacerbated by salinity. Therefore, we investigated the responses of Chenopodium album L. and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) to salt stress, as well as interferences between species. Ten-day old plants were grown for 1 week in a single- or mixed-species set-up, either with or without 100 mM of NaCl. C. album reduced the biomass of soybean similarly to salt stress, while its growth was unaffected under any condition. C. album decreased the crop protein content when salinity was applied. This effect was ascribed to altered protein metabolism and/or N usage to produce other N metabolites, including osmolytes. The two species did not reciprocally affect the capacity to accumulate Na+, but the weed contained two-fold more Na+ in the leaves. Elevated initial K+ concentration and high K+ delivery to the shoot likely explained the better acclimation of C. album to salinity. C. album produced more phenolics and proline and exhibited greater antioxidant activity, but low lipid peroxidation, in the mixed set-up under salinity. Thus, it is possible that the weed could become more resilient to salinity when growing in a soybean field. In the long term, this might cause significant losses in soybean productivity as expected by the dramatic decline in crop protein content.

Does Salt Stress Intensify the Allelopathic Effect of Four Asteraceae Invasive Plants?

“…In general, salt stress can inhibit the growth performance of plants through water deficiency, ion ecotoxicity, and/or ion imbalance mediated by increased osmotic stress (Ghirardelli et al 2021, Huang et al 2021, Kumawat et al . 2022, Yu et al 2023).…”

“…In addition, the allelopathic chemicals from the studied invasive species (especially S. canadensis ) may be more easily extracted and released from the leaves under salt stress-mediated osmotic stress, resulting in higher doses and subsequently more detrimental effects (Wang et al 2019a, Yu et al 2023). This phenomenon may also be attributed to the gradually increasing additional energy cost and the progressively decreasing nutrient uptake efficiency for the Seger-Segro of L. sativa under heavy salt stress compared to that under light salt stress (Ghirardelli et al 2021, Huang et al 2021, Kumawat et al 2022, Yu et al 2023). The consequences have confirmed the correctness of the Stress Hypothesis of Allelopathy (Reigosa et al 2002).…”

Registration of ‘S16‐3747GT’: A high‐yielding determinate maturity group V soybean cultivar with broad biotic and abiotic stressors tolerance

“…The combined efforts from the public and private sectors have contributed to the ∼370% increase in soybean production from 1920 (740 kg ha −1 ) to the present day (3,470 kg ha −1 ), which resulted in total production of over 123 t in 2020 (Koester et al., 2014; Specht et al., 1999; Specht et al., 2014; USDA‐NASS, 2020; Vieira & Chen, 2021). However, biotic and abiotic stressors can cause significant reductions in yield in the United States (Allen et al., 2017; Bandara et al., 2020; Ghirardelli et al., 2021).…”

“…In the southern United States, production losses of 12% have been estimated to be caused by SC in 2020 (Crop Protection Network, 2020). In addition, soil salinity is a major environmental stressor limiting plant growth and development, germination, seedling emergence, nodulation, and seed quality, resulting in significant yield reductions of up to 40% in soybeans (Do et al., 2019; Ghirardelli et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2017). Worldwide, salinity affects over 60 million ha (20%) of the irrigated land, of which ∼1.5 million ha of crop production are lost yearly due to extreme salinity conditions.…”

Registration of ‘S16‐14801C’: A high‐yielding determinate maturity group V soybean cultivar with multiple disease resistance, salt tolerance, and broad adaptation

“…In addition to biotic stressors, soil salinity represents a major abiotic stressor that limits crop production by inducing ion toxicity and osmotic imbalance in soybean cultivars susceptible to salinity conditions, particularly in irrigated production systems (Bai et al., 2019; Chung et al., 2020). Studies have shown significant yield reductions of up to 40% in soybean due to the negative effect of salinity stress on seed germination, seedling emergence, root length, nodulation, plant height, and leaf size (Do et al., 2019; Ghirardelli et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2017). Because ∼5.2 million ha (23%) of the U.S. irrigated agricultural land is affected by salinity, deploying soybean cultivars with tolerance to salt represents one of the most effective strategies to minimize yield losses (Do et al., 2019).…”