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We have done a comparative study of ion status, growth and biochemical parameters in shoots and roots of seablite (Suaeda altissima (L.) Pall.) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) grown with different salinity levels in the medium (0.5 -750 mМ). A distinctive feature of the halophyte was a high Na + content in tissues at its low concentration in the medium (0.5 mM). In these conditions, Na + accumulation in seablite roots was four-fold higher than in spinach roots, and Na + content in seablite leaves was almost 20-fold higher than in spinach. Together with an increase in sodium concentration in the medium, K + content decreased six-fold in seablite leaves, while in spinach it did not decrease so drastically. We can suppose that in the halophyte, some processes occur only in the presence of sodium, and these functions of sodium cannot be fully fulfilled by potassium. Analysis of protein and total nitrogen content in tissues shows that at high salinity, the ability to synthesize non-protein nitrogen-containing compounds increases in the halophyte and decreases in the glycophyte. Data on proline content dynamics show that its increase in tissues of spinach (salinity levels 150 and 250 mМ) and seablite (salinity levels 0.5 and 750 mМ) is an indicator of plant injury. In seablite and spinach, proline is not a major osmoregulator. Its concentration both in roots and leaves was no more than 2.5 µmol/g fresh weight. The data presented in this work concern the accumulation and distribution of Na + , Cl − , K + and 3 NO  ions, as well as growth and biochemical parameters. Our data show that the development of adaptation reactions in the whole plants in the conditions of high salinity is determined by morphofunctional systems and their interaction.

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The composition of ionogenic groups and ion-exchange capacity were studied in the polymeric matrix of cell walls isolated from the pollen grain and tissues of vegetative organs (leaves and stems) of Lilium longiflorum Thunb. The ion-exchange capacity was evaluated at different pH values and ionic strength of 100 mM. In the two-layered pollen wall and the somatic cell walls four types of ionogenic groups were found: amino groups, two carboxyl groups (represented by residues of uronic and hydroxycinnamic acids), and phenolic OH-groups. The groups of all four types are present in the intine, whereas the exine contains one type of anion-exchange and two types of cation-exchange groups. The contents of each type group and their ionization constants were determined. The qualitative and quantitative compositions of structural polymers of the pollen intine and somatic cell walls are significantly different. It is suggested that hydroxycinnamic acids should be involved in cross-linking of polysaccharide chains in both the intine and somatic cell primary walls, and such cross-links play a crucial role in the structural organization and integrity of the pollen grain wall.

Ion-exchange properties of the polymeric matrix of cell walls isolated from roots of 55-day-old Spinacia oleracea L. (Matador cv.) plants grown in nutrient solution in the presence of 0.5, 150, and 250 mM NaCl and from roots of Suaeda altissima L. Pall plants of the same age grown in the presence of 0.5 and 250 mM NaCl were studied. The ion-exchange capacity of the spinach cell walls was determined at pH values from 2 to 12 and different ionic strength of the solution (10 and 250 mM NaCl). In the structure of the root cell walls, four types of ionogenic groups were found: amine, two types of carboxyl (the first being galacturonic acid residue), and phenolic groups. The content of each type of group and their ionization constants were evaluated. The ion-exchange properties of spinach and the halophyte Suaeda altissima L. Pall were compared, and the qualitative composition of the ion-exchange groups in the cell walls of roots of these plants appeared to be the same and not depend on conditions of the root nutrition. The content of carboxyl groups of polygalacturonic acid changed in the cell walls of the glycophyte and halophyte depending on the salt concentration in the medium. These changes in the composition of functional groups of the cell wall polymers seemed to be a response of these plants to salt and were more pronounced in the halophyte. A sharp increase in the NaCl concentration in the medium caused a decrease in pH in the extracellular water space as a result of exchange reactions between sodium ions entering from the external solution and protons of carboxyl groups of the cell walls. The findings are discussed from the standpoint of involvement of root cell walls of different plant species in response to salinity.