The impact of soil salinity on the yield, composition and physiology of the bioenergy grass Miscanthus × giganteus

Abstract

High salinity land may provide an alternative resource for the cultivation of dedicated biomass crops for renewable energy and chemicals, thus avoiding competition for land use with food crops. The commercial perennial grass Miscanthus 9 giganteus is a leading biomass crop; however, its response to salt stress is largely unknown. Miscanthus 9 giganteus was grown in pots irrigated with nine different NaCl concentrations (0, 2.86, 5.44, 7.96, 10.65, 14.68, 17.5, 19.97 and 22.4 dS m À1 ). Biomass yield was reduced by 50% at 10.65 dS m À1 NaCl. Root dry matter inhibition occurred at the highest salt concentration tested, while rhizome dry weight and the ratios of root/rhizome and below-/above-ground dry matter were not affected by elevated salinity. The accumulative effect of increasing salinity reduced stem height and elongation, while photosynthesis was reduced to a smaller extent. The duration and strength of salinity exacerbated the reduction. Water use efficiency (WUE) was maintained except at the highest salinity and plants maintained stomatal conductance (g s ) and leaf water content at low to moderate salinity. Miscanthus 9 giganteus showed strong induction of the osmoprotectant, proline and no significant increase in malondialdehyde content under increasing salinity. The ash content in leaves, increased, reducing the biomass quality at high salinity concentrations. The effects of salinity on the yield and the availability of land area in European geographical area for agriculture were investigated. Understanding the potential for growth of the C4 biomass crop Miscanthus on underutilized or abandoned land may offer a new range of targets for improved economics, crop management and breeding.

Winter hardiness of Miscanthus (II): Genetic mapping for overwintering ability and adaptation traits in three interconnected Miscanthus populations

“…The overwintering ability QTL on LG 4 (QTL id: OWA2) contained the osmotin gene OSM34 . Osmotin genes have been shown to induce proline accumulation that confers tolerance against both biotic and abiotic stresses in plants such as Miscanthus , tomato, strawberry, Arabidopsis, and olive trees (Abdin, Kiran, & Alam, ; D'Angeli & Altamura, ; Ings, Mur, Robson, & Bosch, ; Płażek et al, ; Stavridou, Hastings, Webster, & Robson, ). A QTL on Miscanthus LG 11 (QTL id: OWA6) encompassed two plausible candidate genes, carboxylesterase 13 ( CEX13 ) and WRKY transcription factor ( WRKY2 ), both of which were reported to be responsive to cold stress in Arabidopsis (Seki et al, ), grape ( Vitis amurensis ) (Xin et al, ), and Peruvian lily ( Alstroemeria ) (Wagstaff et al, ).…”

Chenopodium quinoa Willd. A new cash crop halophyte for saline regions of Egypt

“…In this respect, Karyotis et al (2003) indicated that the considerable seed yield loss under saline soil condition (6.5 dSm -1 ) was due to poor and uneven plant density caused by adverse soil properties such as high soil pH (pH 8.5) and poor aeration and water permeability. However, yield loss due to salinity stress is closely related to four major constraints: (1) water deficit, (2) ion toxicity, (3) nutrient imbalance, (4) restriction of CO 2 uptake (Marschner, 1995;Stavridou et al, 2016;Munns and Tester, 2008). Concerning the effect of salinity on quinoa plants, Eisa et al, (2012), reported that neither osmotic stress nor ion deficiency or toxicity appears to be determinant for C. quinoa under saline condition.…”

Life cycle assessment of ethanol production from miscanthus: A comparison of production pathways at two European sites

“…Marginal areas are unsuitable for the (economically) benign cultivation of traditional crops due to a range of potential factors such as moisture, salinity, temperature, soil depth or even field shape (Clifton‐Brown et al, ; Quinn et al, ). Moreover, it has been reported that miscanthus can be grown on heavy metal‐contaminated or saline soils (Nsanganwimana, Pourrut, Mench, & Douay, ; Pidlisnyuk, Stefanovska, Lewis, Erickson, & Davis, ; Stavridou, Hastings, Webster, & Robson, ; Sun, Yamada, & Takano, ). Considering these aspects, miscanthus cultivation could contribute to a sustainable biomass provision, reducing land use competition and improving the profitability of agricultural land of lower quality (Allison, Morris, Clifton‐Brown, Lister, & Donnison, ; Clifton‐Brown et al, ; Hu, Wu, Persson, Peng, & Feng, ).…”