Zygophyllum xanthoxylum is a salt‐accumulating xerophytic species with excellent adaptability to adverse environments. Previous studies demonstrated that Z. xanthoxylum absorbs a great quantity of Na+ as an osmoregulatory substance under arid conditions. To investigate the nutritional status of Z. xanthoxylum in comparison with a typical glycophyte, Arabidopsis thaliana, seedlings were exposed to NaCl (50 mM for Z. xanthoxylum and 5 mM for A. thaliana), osmotic stress (–0.5 MPa), and osmotic stress combined with the NaCl treatment. Compared to the control, NaCl treatment or osmotic stress significantly increased Na+ concentration in leaves and roots of Z. xanthoxylum, but not of A. thaliana. Under osmotic stress, the addition of NaCl significantly increased Na+ concentration in leaves and roots of Z. xanthoxylum, resulting in improved biomass and tissue water content. However, such changes were not observed in A. thaliana. Compared to the control, K+ concentrations in leaves and roots remained unchanged in Z. xanthoxylum when exposed to osmotic stress, with or without additional 50 mM NaCl. In contrast, significant reductions in shoot K+ concentrations of A. thaliana were observed under osmotic stress alone or when combined with 5 mM NaCl. Moreover, NaCl alone or when combined with osmotic stress enhanced the accumulation of N, P, Fe, Si, Ca2+, and Mg2+ in Z. xanthoxylum, but did not cause such nutritional changes in A. thaliana. Compared to the glycophyte A. thaliana, Z. xanthoxylum could accumulate Na+ and maintain the stability of nutritional status at a relatively constant level to cope with drought stress.
The editorial office would like to draw reader's attention to an error occurring in the publication by Wang et al. × Under drought conditions NaCl improves the nutritional status of the xerophyte Zygophyllum xanthoxylum but not of the glycophyte Arabidopsis thaliana × pp. 597-606 × Volume 182 × Number 4 × August 2019 that we like to apologize for.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.