The Evaluation of Alkali Grass (Puccinellia ciliata Bor) Populations in Aydin Province of Turkey

Abstract

Alkali grass grows in waterlogged, saline and alaline soils. The main problem in these soils is minerals at toxic level. The toxic ions are chloride, sodium and boron. A number of techniques have been investigated for removing toxic metals from the soil. Today, the cost-effective and environmentally technique is phytoremediation, using hyperaccumulator plants. Alkali grass (Puccinellia ciliata Bor) is suggested as a hyperaccumulator plant by the combination of more favourable characteristics with salt and waterlogging tolerance, high biomass value and convincing nutritive value for adverse environmental conditions. For this reason, we collected alkali grass and soil samples from five different locations in Aydın-Muğla highway, Turanlar and Sınırteke villages in Germencik-Aydın. In the soil analysis, we observed that K accumulation varies between root, shoot and panicle at least whereas Na and B shows more variation on whole plant portions among locations. Intense aerenchyma development on the root tips of Puccinellia plant was observed and it is determined as radial lysogenic aerenchyma formation. Average plant height and dry matter values were between 47.2-74.4 cm and 15.61-80.85 g/plant according to locations. The highest plant height value was obtained from the first location whereas the highest dry matter yield was detected in the fifth location. In conclusion, plants from fifth location can be regarded as fodder plants in these areas. Our results indicated that alkali grass can be effective for phytoextraction of sodium and boron from contaminated sites.

Biological and Agronomic Characterization of Improved Alkali Grass Genotypes (Puccinellia ciliata Bor) in the Aegean Region of Turkey

“…These conditions are the adverse conditions that the Puccinellia plant adapts to and resists stress. The lack of precipitation after April indicates that the Puccinellia plant is facing arid conditions after flowering [1].…”

“…The pH value in the areas where Puccinellia is distributed in the Aydin region of western Turkey varies between 8.91 and 10.83. Boron (5.65-14.47 Original Research Article ppm) and sodium contents (1341-5479 ppm) in the same areas are at a toxic and very high level, respectively [1]. One of the solutions to salinity, alkalinity and waterlogging is the utilization of tolerant crops such as Puccinellia [2,3].…”