Sodium plays a more important role than potassium and chloride in growth of Salicornia europaea

Abstract

Salicornia europaea is a succulent euhalophyte that belongs to the Chenopodiaceae family. It is found that moderate concentration of NaCl can dramatically stimulate the growth of S. europaea plants. To elucidate the mechanism underlying the phenomenon, morphological and physiological changes of S. europaea in response to different ions, including cations (Na ? , K ? , Li ? , Cs ? ) and anions (Cl -, NO 3 -, CH 3 COO -) were investigated, and the effects of Na ? , Cl -and K ? on the growth of S. europaea were also studied. Na ? was more effective than K ? and Cl -in stimulating shoot succulence, cell expansion, and stomatal opening. Plants treated with Na ? (including NaCl, Na ? , NaNO 3 ) showed better plant growth, increased photosynthesis and less cell membrane damage than those untreated and treated with 200 mM of Cl -and K ? (including KCl and KNO 3 ). Both SEM-X-Ray microanalysis and flame emission results revealed that well developed S. europaea plants had a higher content of sodium but lower potassium and chlorine. It is concluded that sodium plays a more important role in the growth and development of S. europaea than potassium and chloride.

H+‐pyrophosphatase from Salicornia europaea confers tolerance to simultaneously occurring salt stress and nitrogen deficiency in Arabidopsis and wheat

“…; Lv et al . ). Furthermore, we also find that S. europaea can grow well under 0.1 m m nitrate in the presence of 200 m m NaCl, suggesting its strong ability on N uptake and utilization under salinity (Nie et al .…”

“…It can withstand more than 1000 mm NaCl and is one of the most salt-tolerant plant species in the world (Ushakova et al 2005;Flowers & Colmer 2008). The growth of S. europaea can even be dramatically stimulated by 200-400 mm NaCl, and sodium seems to play a more important role in the growth and development of S. europaea than potassium (Wang et al 2009;Lv et al 2012b). Furthermore, we also find that S. europaea can grow well under 0.1 mm nitrate in the presence of 200 mm NaCl, suggesting its strong ability on N uptake and utilization under salinity (Nie et al 2012).…”

Function of sodium and potassium in growth of sodium-loving Amaranthaceae species

“…Few attempts have been made to clarify the mechanisms of growth promotion by Na. Na stimulates shoot succulence and cell expansion more significantly than K in Salicornia europaea L. (Lv et al 2012b), and in Sesuvium portulacastrum L., Na maintains leaf succulence and promotes growth (Wang et al 2012). These species are reportedly halophytes, but even in some glycophytes, Na can maintain turgor pressure and growth in place of K when the K supply is limited (Flowers and Läuchli 1983;Takahashi et al 1997;Subbarao et al 2003).…”

A chimeric vacuolar Na+/H+ antiporter gene evolved by DNA family shuffling confers increased salt tolerance in yeast

“…Thus, these plants must compartmentalize the toxic Na + in the vacuoles. Furthermore, S. europaea plants can accumulate up to 50% NaCl of dry weight in shoot (Lv et al, 2012;Ushakova et al, 2005). Therefore, we used S. salsa and S. europaea as excellent candidates for the design of improved novel proteins by DNA family shuffling, which promotes the range of salt tolerance, thereby yielding chimeras with higher salt tolerance than parents.…”