Arid Zone Research ›› 2022, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (6): 1862-1874.doi: 10.13866/j.azr.2022.06.17

• Plant Ecology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

To simulate the growth and physiological responses of Cyperus esculentus seedlings to salt stress in sandy soil

MA Xingyu1,2,3,4(),HUANG Caibian1,2,3(),ZENG Fanjiang1,2,3,LI Xiangyi1,2,3,ZHANG Yulin1,2,3,5,DING Ya1,2,3,5,GAO Yanju1,2,3,4,XU Mengqi1,2,3,4   

  1. 1. Xinjiang Desert Plant Roots Ecology and Vegetation Restoration Laboratory, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    2. State Key Laboratory of Desert and Oasis Ecology, Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography,Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang, China
    3. Cele National Station of Observation and Research for Desert Grassland Ecosystem in Xinjiang, Cele 848300, Xinjiang, China
    4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    5. Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, Xinjiang, China
  • Received:2022-05-21 Revised:2022-07-15 Online:2022-11-15 Published:2023-01-17
  • Contact: Caibian HUANG E-mail:mxy20200607@126.com;huangcaibian@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Abstract:

To investigate the growth and physiological responses of Cyperus esculentus to salt stress in wind-sand soil, a pot experiment with eolian sandy soil as the growth medium was conducted to examine the effects of different degrees of salt stress (NaCl solution) on the growth, physiological and biochemical characteristics, and the balances of Na+ and K+ in root and leaves in a greenhouse on days 30 and 50 of stress exposure. The results showed that: (1) When the NaCl concentration was ≤0.5 g·kg-1, both the aboveground and underground dry weights of C. esculentus seedlings were significantly unaffected. However, plant height declined significantly compared with the non-stress seedlings. When NaCl the concentration was ≥1.0 g·kg-1, the dry weights of aboveground and underground, plant height, and leaf area decreased significantly with stress time. (2) On day 30, under salt stress, the proline content increased significantly with the NaCl concentration, but soluble and protein contents increased slightly. However, MDA content increased significantly under 0.5 g·kg-1 NaCl treatment and decreased significantly with increasing NaCl concentration. Under salt stress on day 50, as the NaCl concentration increased, the soluble protein content increased significantly. Then, soluble sugar content increased significantly firstly and then remained stable, while the contents of proline and MDA only increased significantly at 3.5 g·kg-1 NaCl. (3) The Na+ content and Na+/K+ in leaves and roots increased significantly as the NaCl concentration increased, while the K+ content decreased significantly and then remained stable when the NaCl concentration was >1.0 g·kg-1. These results suggest that increased proline content at the early growth stage, while increased contents of soluble protein and sugar at the late growth stage, contribute to increasing the osmotic adjustment and water-holding capacity and decreasing the MDA content and K+ loss, improving the salt tolerance of C. esculentus in sandy soil. The comprehensive evaluation results showed that when the NaCl concentration was ≤0.5 g·kg-1, no effect of salt stress on the growth of C. esculentus seedling was found, while the plant growth was inhibited significantly when the concentration was >1.0 g·kg-1.

Key words: Cyperus esculentus, salt stress, growth of seedlings, osmotic adjustment, ion content