Soil salinity directly affects plants, interfering in the emission of fluorescence, and promoting the degradation of photosynthetic pigments. Thus, estimating the damage to the photosynthetic apparatus caused by saline water is an important tool to detect abiotic stresses. For this purpose, sorghum plants were cultivated in a greenhouse and irrigated with two water sources (NaCl and salt mixture) with six levels of electrical conductivity (EC) (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, and 12.5 dS m-1), forming a 6 × 2 factorial in randomized blocks with four repetitions. At 60 days after sowing, the photosynthetic pigments were quantified, the chlorophyll a fluorescence parameters (initial fluorescence [F0]; variable fluorescence [Fv]; maximum fluorescence [Fm]; quantum efficiency of photosystem II - PSII [Fv/Fm]; electron flux per reaction center [ET0/CR]; quantum energy dissipation [DI0/CR] and quantum yield for heat dissipation [φD0]) were evaluated. The photosynthetic pigments were decreased with an increase in the salinity of the irrigation water, and were more expressive at higher electrical conductivities. With the wear on the photosynthetic apparatus by the increase in salinity, a reduction in the emission of the chlorophyll a fluorescence was observed, pointing to a possible photoinhibition of photosystem II.

Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench, one of the most important dryland cereal crops, is moderately tolerant of soil salinity, a rapidly increasing agricultural problem due to inappropriate irrigation management and salt water intrusion into crop lands as a result of climate change. The mechanisms for sorghum’s tolerance of high soil salinity have not been elucidated. This study tested whether sorghum plants adapt to salinity stress via stomatal regulation or osmotic adjustment. Sorghum plants were treated with one of seven concentrations of NaCl (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, or 100 mM). Leaf gas exchange (net CO2 assimilation (A), transpiration (Tr); stomatal conductance of water vapor (gs), intrinsic water use efficiency (WUE)), and water (Ψw), osmotic (Ψo), and turgor Ψt potentials were evaluated at 40 days after the imposition of salinity treatments. Plants exhibited decreased A, gs, and Tr with increasing salinity, whereas WUE was not affected by NaCl treatment. Additionally, plants exhibited osmotic adjustment to increasing salinity. Thus, sorghum appears to adapt to high soil salinity via both osmotic adjustment and stomatal regulation.

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