Rooted cuttings of grapevines (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sultana; syn. Thompson Seedless) were grown under glasshouse conditions and supplied with dilute nutrient solution containing either 0 or 90 mM of added NaCl. Growth and photosynthetic response to salt treatment and subsequent recovery were followed over 80 days. Shoot growth and photosynthesis were reduced by salt treatment. At relatively low concentrations of leaf chloride (< c. 150 mM, on a tissue water basis), photosynthetic reduction was largely due to increased stomatal resistance. Internal disturbances were involved at higher leaf Cl- concentrations (> c. 150 mM) and included an apparent reduction in photochemical efficiency and a faster rate of photorespiration. Levels of fraction I protein, and specific activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase measured in vitro, were not reduced by salt treatment. Vines showed remarkable adaptation to salinity insofar as leaves maintained positive turgor despite leaf Cl- concentrations exceeding 300 mM, implying osmotic adjustment. Cessation of salt treatment led to an immediate decrease in leaf Cl-, a promotion of shoot growth and a progressive recovery in photosynthesis accompanied by a marked but not necessarily concurrent reduction in both stomatal and internal resistances. Leaves tolerated Cl- levels up to 200 mM (under glasshouse conditions) without sustaining permanent reduction in photosynthetic activity. New shoots formed subsequent to stress relief are not a prerequisite for Cl- retranslocation from mature leaves as decapitation at the time of stress relief did not prevent attenuation of leaf Cl- or recovery in photosynthesis.

No abstract

Seedlings of Rangpur lime (Citrus reticulata var. austera hyb.?) and Etrog citron (C. medica L.), which differ markedly in ability for salt exclusion (i.e. the ability to restrict the uptake and/or transport of salt between roots and shoots), were grown under glasshouse conditions and supplied with dilute nutrient solution containing either 0 or 50 mM NaCl. Photosynthetic response to salt treatment and subsequent recovery were followed for 105 days for Etrog citron and for 119 days for Rangpur lime. Photosynthesis in mature leaves of both varieties was progressively reduced by salt treatment irrespective of ability for salt exclusion. The photosynthetic decline in each case was related to increases in stomatal and internal resistances. The reduction in photosynthetic capacity in Etrog citron leaves was associated with high leaf chloride concentrations while in Rangpur lime, a salt excluder, it could be related to a loss of leaf turgor. Leaf sodium concentrations were not markedly increased by salt treatment in either variety. Cessation of salt treatment led to a progressive recovery of photosynthesis for both varieties accompanied by a reduction in both stomatal and internal resistances. Recovery in Etrog citron leaves occurred despite little change in leaf chloride concentrations. These leaves tolerated up to 350 mM chloride (leaf water basis) under glasshouse conditions without sustaining a permanent reduction in photosynthetic capacity.

No abstract

Grafted plants of Valencia orange scion [Citrus sinensis (L.) Osbeck] on six different rootstocks were grown under glasshouse conditions and supplied with dilute nutrient solution containing either 0 or 75 mM NaCl. Salt treatment was increased to 150 mM NaCl after 49 days. Leaf water relations and leaf chloride, sodium and potassium concentrations were followed throughout the period of salt treatment until day 105, when salt treatment ceased, and thereafter until day 140. Seedlings of Rangpur lime (C. reticulata var. austera hybrid?), Cleopatra mandarin (C. reticulata) and sweet orange (C.sinensis) were treated similarly and leaf water relations and chloride concentrations were followed until salt treatment ceased on day 77. All Valencia-rootstock combinations adjusted osmotically to the salt stress imposed and maintained turgor pressures at or above control values. Mature leaves on seedlings of sweet orange behaved similarly to Valencia orange leaves on sweet orange rootstocks by maintaining turgor pressures higher than control values. In contrast, mature leaves on seedlings of the genotypes Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin tended to lose turgor during the period of treatment with 150 mM NaCl. Leaf chloride analyses indicated that Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin rootstocks restricted the uptake and/or transport of chloride to shoots. However, comparatively high concentrations of sodium (>approx. 200 mM, tissue water basis) were accumulated in mature leaves on all rootstocks during salt treatment. Leaf potassium concentrations remained similar to control values. The reduction in osmotic potential in mature Valencia leaves on rough lemon (C. jambhiri), Trifoliata (Poncirus trifoliata), Camzo citrange (C. sinensis × P. trifoliata) and sweet orange rootstocks on day 77 could be accounted for largely by the increase in sodium and chloride, whereas chloride (as NaCl) accounted for only approximately 50% of the reduction in osmotic potential in Valencia leaves on Rangpur lime and Cleopatra mandarin rootstocks. Stomatal resistances in mature Valencia leaves on all rootstocks were increased by salt treatment and showed only partial recovery after the cessation of salt treatment. The incomplete recovery may have been associated with the retention in leaves of high concentrations of sodium.

Plant growth rates and rates of uptake and root to shoot transport of chloride and sodium were compared between seedlings of the rootstock Pistacia atlantica Desf. and a scion cultivar P. Vera L. cv. Kerman treated with 30 mM NaCl for 63 days. Uptake and distribution of chloride, sodium and potassium ions were then investigated in P. atlantica and in another rootstock P. terebinthus L. subjected to periods of increasing salinity, commencing with 30 mM chloride and 18 mM sodium, and then increasing sequentially by these amounts every 3 weeks to reach a maximum of 150 mM chloride and 90 mM sodium. Shoot growth rates of P. Vera and P. atlantica were not affected by treatment with 30 mM NaCl. Rates of uptake and root to shoot transport of chloride were similar between the two species. However, the rates of uptake and root to shoot transport of sodium by P. atlantica were approximately 2-fold and 4-fold higher, respectively, than in P. vera. The chloride and sodium accumulated in the shoots of both species was diluted by growth, with the result that there was no marked increase in leaf and stem chloride and sodium concentrations in either species with time. After 63 days of salt-treatment, mean leaf chloride concentrations were less in P. atlantica, which had a higher relative growth rate and a higher shoot to root ratio than P. vera. Mean leaf sodium concentrations were higher in P. atlantica, reflecting the greater rate of root to shoot transport of sodium by this species. Sequentially increasing salinities up to a maximum of 150 mM chloride and 90 mM sodium had no significant effect on the dry matter production of P. atlantica and P. terebinthus. Laminae chloride concentrations of both species increased as the level of salinity was increased. Sodium concentrations in laminae of P. terebinthus showed a small but significant increase during treatment with the two highest salinity levels. Chloride concentrations on a tissue water basis were highest in laminae and petioles of salt-treated plants, whereas sodium concentrations were highest in roots, especially the proximal root, indicating retention of sodium in the lower part of the plant.

The gas exchange characteristics of asparagus shoots at various stages of development are described. Reassimilation in spears conserved 50-100% of the carbon dioxide produced in respiration. Refixation was influenced by light intensity and CO2 concentration in the surrounding air, but not by oxygen concentration. The absence of an inhibitory effect of oxygen on refixation is attributed to suppression by high levels of CO2 inside the spear. Assimilation of radioactive CO2 in both the spear and fern forms of asparagus was by the C3 pathway. Fern forms displayed more usual C3 properties, with photosynthesis and CO2 compensation points showing sensitivity to oxygen concentration.

Seedlings of Pistacia vera cv. Kerman were grown in a porous medium under glasshouse conditions and treated for up to 5 weeks with 0.5 (control), 100 or 175 mol m-3 Cl- in irrigation water, with accompanying cations Na+ , Ca2+ and Mg2+ in the molar ratio 6 : 1 : 1. Salinity treatments were raised to the respective levels by daily increments of 25 mol m-3 Cl-. Shoot growth was decreased by 100 mol m-3 CI- and ceased during treatment with 175 mol m-3 CI- . Turgor was maintained in expanding leaves during and after the period of incremental increase in salinity up to the maximum of 175 mol m-3 CI-. There was an increase in sucrose and reducing sugar concentrations on a tissue water basis in expanding leaves of plants after 2 days of treatment with 175 mol m-3 CI- but only a marginal increase in Cl- and Na+. Extension rates and final lengths of successively emerging leaves decreased with duration of treatment with 175 mol m-3 CI-. Emergence of new leaves eventually ceased on these plants. Bulk leaf Cl- and Na+ concentrations of expanded 42-day-old leaves after treatment of plants for 35 days with 175 mol m-3 CI- were 255 and 142 mol m-3, respectively, but despite these concentrations photosynthetic rates were not reduced. There was an increase in proline and a decrease in shikimic acid in these leaves. Rates of water vapour loss per unit leaf area of whole plants did not differ markedly between control and salt (175 mol m-3 CI-)-treated plants after 40 days of salt treatment. The salt- stressed plants accumulated higher sucrose and starch concentrations in the stem and higher concentrations of sucrose, reducing sugars and starch in the main root. Total carbohydrate concentrations were also marginally higher in the root tips of salt-treated plants. These data indicate that photosynthetic rate of expanded leaves, photoassimilate supply to, water relations of, and Cl- and Na+ concentrations of expanding leaves are unlikely to be responsible for the growth reduction of pistachio plants observed at relatively high salinities.