Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-wq484 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T13:14:54.765Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Vegetative growth, superoxide dismutase activity and ion concentration of salt-stressed watermelon as influenced by rootstock

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2008

SMILJANA GORETA ,
VILJEMKA BUCEVIC-POPOVIC ,
GABRIELA VULETIN SELAK ,
MAJA PAVELA-VRANCIC  and
SLAVKO PERICA
SMILJANA GORETA*
Affiliation:
Institute for Adriatic Crops, Put Duilova 11, 21 000 Split, Croatia
VILJEMKA BUCEVIC-POPOVIC
Affiliation:
University of Split, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry, N. Tesle 12, 21 000 Split, Croatia
GABRIELA VULETIN SELAK
Affiliation:
Institute for Adriatic Crops, Put Duilova 11, 21 000 Split, Croatia
MAJA PAVELA-VRANCIC
Affiliation:
University of Split, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Chemistry, N. Tesle 12, 21 000 Split, Croatia
SLAVKO PERICA
Affiliation:
Institute for Adriatic Crops, Put Duilova 11, 21 000 Split, Croatia
*
*To whom all correspondance should be addressed. Email: smilja@krs.hr
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Watermelon is a crop with a high water demand and is frequently grown under conditions of higher than normal root-zone salinity. In the present study, seedlings of watermelon (cv. Fantasy, Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum & Nakai) were grown either ungrafted or grafted on three rootstocks: Strong Tosa, S1 (both Cucurbita maxima×Cucurbita moschata), or Emphasis (Lagenaria siceraria). All the plants were exposed to an NaCl-induced salinity stress (electrical conductivity, EC=2·2, 4·0, or 6·0 dS/m). The vegetative growth of all the plants substantially reduced after 2 weeks of exposure to 6·0 dS/m; however, growth of the plants grafted on Strong Tosa reduced less than that of the others. The leaf water content and specific leaf area (SLA, m2/g) decreased with an increasing salinity in grafted plants, but not in ungrafted plants. Salinity induced an increase of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity in grafted plants up to two-fold depending on the rootstock, whereas it had no effect on this enzyme activity in ungrafted plants. Leaf Na+ concentration increased with increasing salinity in ungrafted and S1 grafted plants, whereas there was no significant leaf Na+ accumulation in Emphasis and Strong Tosa grafted plants. Leaf K+ concentration was affected by the rootstock but not by salinity, thus, the ability to keep a high K+/Na+ ratio was achieved mainly by limiting leaf Na+ concentration. The rootstock determined the leaf Cl− accumulation, with lower overall concentrations found if plants were grafted on the S1 rootstock than on Emphasis or ungrafted plants. Salinity significantly decreased the leaf NO3− concentration on Emphasis grafted plants only, while the NO3−/Cl− ratio was reduced in all the rootstocks. The capacity of Strong Tosa to withstand salt stress better than other tested rootstocks was probably due to the ability to induce anatomical adaptation (SLA) and SOD activity in response to salt stress, and also to the efficiency of Na+ exclusion from the shoot.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 146 , Issue 6 , December 2008 , pp. 695 - 704
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Almansa, M. S., Hernández, J. A., Jimenez, A., Botell, M. A. & Sevilla, F. (2002). Effect of salt stress on the superoxide dismutase activity in leaves of Citrus limonum in different rootstock-scion combinations. Biologia Plantarum 45, 545–549.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
del Amor, F. M., Martinez, V. & Cerda, V. (1999). Salinity duration and concentration affect fruit yield and quality, and growth and mineral composition of melon plants grown in perlite. HortScience 34, 1234–1237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayuelo-Jiménez, J. S., Debouck, D. G. & Lynch, J. P. (2003). Growth, gas exchange, water relations, and ion composition of Phaseolus species grown under saline conditions. Field Crops Research 80, 207–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beauchamp, C. & Fridovich, I. (1971). Superoxide dismutase: improved assays and applicable to acrylamide gels. Analytical Biochemistry 44, 276–287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bowler, C., Vanmontagu, M. & Inze, D. (1992). Superoxide-dismutase and stress tolerance. Annual Review of Plant Physiology and Plant Molecular Biology 43, 83–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradford, M. M. (1976). A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilizing the principle of protein-dye binding. Analytical Biochemistry 72, 248–254.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cerezo, M., Garcia-Agustin, P., Serna, M. D. & Primo-Millo, E. (1997). Kinetics of nitrate uptake by citrus seedlings and inhibitory effects of salinity. Plant Science 126, 105–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colla, G., Roupahel, Y., Cardarelli, M. & Rea, E. (2006 a). Effect of salinity on yield, fruit quality, leaf gas exchange, and mineral composition of grafted watermelon plants. HortScience 41, 622–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colla, G., Rouphael, Y., Cardarelli, M., Massa, D., Salerno, A. & Rea, E. (2006 b) Yield, fruit quality and mineral composition of grafted melon plants grown under saline conditions. Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology 81, 146–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelstein, M., Ben-Hur, M., Cohen, R., Burger, Y. & Ravina, I. (2005). Boron and salinity effects on grafted and non-grafted melon plants. Plant and Soil 269, 273–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estañ, M. T., Martinez-Rodriguez, M. M., Perez-Alfocea, F., Flowers, T. J. & Bolarin, M. C. (2005). Grafting raises the salt tolerance of tomato through limiting the transport of sodium and chloride to the shoot. Journal of Experimental Botany 56, 703–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faostat (2007). FAO Statistical Databases. Available on line at http://faostat.fao.org/default.aspx (verified 21 March 2008).Google Scholar
Fernández-García, N., Martinez, V., Cerda, A. & Carvajal, M. (2002). Water and nutrient uptake of grafted tomato plants grown under saline conditions. Journal of Plant Physiology 159, 899–905.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisarakis, I., Nikolaou, N., Tsikalas, P., Therios, I. & Stavrakas, D. (2004). Effect of salinity and rootstock on concentration of potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and nitrate-nitrogen in Thompson seedless grapevine. Journal of Plant Nutrition 27, 2117–2134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
García-Sánchez, F., Jifon, J. L., Carvajal, M. & Syvertsen, J. P. (2002). Gas exchange, chlorophyll and nutrient contents in relation to Na+ and Cl− accumulation in ‘Sunburst’ mandarin grafted on different rootstocks. Plant Science 162, 705–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goreta, S., Bucevic-Popovic, V., Pavela-Vrancic, M. & Perica, S. (2007). Salinity-induced changes in growth, superoxide dismutase activity, and ion content of two olive cultivars. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science 170, 398–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grattan, S. R. & Grieve, C. M. (1992). Mineral element acquisition and growth-response of plants grown in saline environments. Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment 38, 275–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grattan, S. R. & Grieve, C. M. (1999). Salinity mineral nutrient relations in horticultural crops. Scientia Horticulture 78, 127–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hernández, J. A., Ferrer, M. A., Jiménez, A., Barcelo, A. R. & Sevilla, F. (2001). Antioxidant systems and O2●−H2O2 production in the apoplast of pea leaves. Its relation with salt-induced necrotic lesions in minor veins. Plant Physiology 127, 817–831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lei, T. W., Xiao, J., Li, G. Y., Mao, J. H., Wang, J. P., Liu, Z. Z. & Zhang, J. G. (2003). Effect of drip irrigation with saline water on water use efficiency and quality of watermelons. Water Resources Management 17, 395–408.Google Scholar
Lopez-Cantarero, I., Guzman, M., Valenzuela, J. L., Del Rio, A. & Romero, L. (1992). Variations in nutrient levels in watermelon cultivars irrigated with saline water: total ions. Communication in Soil Science and Plant Analysis 23, 2809–2822.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
López-Gómez, E., San Juan, M. A., Diaz-Vivancos, P., Mataix Beneyto, J., García-Legaz, M. F. & Hernández, J. A. (2007). Effect of rootstocks grafting and boron on the antioxidant systems and salinity tolerance of loquat plants (Eriobotrya japonica Lindl.). Environmental and Experimental Botany 60, 151–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marcelis, L. F. M. & Van Hooijdonk, J. (1999). Effect of salinity on growth, water use and nutrient use in radish (Raphanus sativus L.). Plant and Soil 215, 57–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mickelbart, M. V. & Arpaia, M. L. (2002). Rootstock influences changes in ion concentrations, growth, and photosynthesis of ‘Hass’ avocado trees in response to salinity. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 127, 649–655.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mittler, R. (2002). Oxidative stress, antioxidants and stress tolerance. Trends in Plant Science 7, 405–410.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moya, J. L., Gomez-Cadenas, A., Primo-Millo, E. & Talon, M. (2003). Chloride absorption in salt-sensitive Carrizo citrange and salt-tolerant Cleopatra mandarin citrus rootstocks is linked to water use. Journal of Experimental Botany 54, 825–833.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Munns, R. (1993). Physiological processes limiting plant-growth in saline soils – some dogmas and hypotheses. Plant Cell and Environment 16, 15–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neumann, P. (1997). Salinity resistance and plant growth revisited. Plant Cell and Environment 20, 1193–1198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Postel, S. L. (1998). Water for food production: Will there be enough in 2025? Bioscience 48, 629–637.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rivero, R. M., Ruiz, J. M. & Romero, L. (2003). Role of grafting in horticultural plants under stress conditions. Food, Agriculture & Environment 1, 70–74.Google Scholar
Romero, L., Belakbir, A., Ragala, L. & Ruiz, J. M. (1997). Response of plant yield and leaf pigments to saline conditions: Effectiveness of different rootstocks in melon plants (Cucumis melo L.). Soil Science and Plant Nutrition 43, 855–862.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruiz, J. M., Rios, J. J., Rosales, M. A., Rivero, R. M. & Romero, L. (2006). Grafting between tobacco plants to enhance salinity tolerance. Journal of Plant Physiology 163, 1229–1237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santa-Cruz, A., Martinez-Rodriguez, M. M., Perez-Alfocea, F., Romero-Aranda, R. & Bolarin, M. C. (2002). The rootstock effect on the tomato salinity response depends on the shoot genotype. Plant Science 162, 825–831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute (1989). SAS/STAT User's Guide, version 6, 4th ed. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Shannon, M. C. & Grieve, C. M. (1999). Tolerance of vegetable crops to salinity. Scientia Horticulture 78, 5–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Silveira, J. A. G., Melo, A. R. B., Viegas, R. A. & Oliveira, J. T. A. (2001). Salinity-induced effects on nitrogen assimilation related to growth in cowpea plants. Environmental and Experimental Botany 46, 171–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sonneveld, S. (1989). A method for calculating the composition of nutrient solutions for soilless cultures. In A Method for Calculating the Composition of Nutrient solutions for Soilless Cultures, 3rd translated edition. Naaldwijk, The Netherlands: Glasshouse Crops Research Station.Google Scholar
Stockle, C. O. (2002). Environmental impact of irrigation: a review. State of Washington Water Research Center. Washington State University. 14 May 2007. Available on line at http//www.swwrc.wsu.edu/newsletter/fall2001/IrrImpact2.pdf (verified 21 March 2008).Google Scholar
Tester, M. & Davenport, R. (2003). Na+ tolerance and Na+ transport in higher plants. Annals of Botany 91, 503–527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaidyanathan, H., Sivakumar, P., Chakrabarty, R. & Thomas, G. (2003). Scavenging of reactive oxygen species in NaCl-stressed rice (Oryza sativa L.) – differential response in salt-tolerant and sensitive varieties. Plant Science 165, 1411–1418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vigo, C., Therios, I. N. & Bosabalidis, A. M. (2005). Plant growth, nutrient concentration, and leaf anatomy of olive plants irrigated with diluted seawater. Journal of Plant Nutrition 28, 1001–1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
White, P. J. & Broadley, M. R. (2001). Chloride in soils and its uptake and movement within the plant: A review. Annals of Botany 88, 967–988.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhu, J. K. (2001). Plant salt tolerance. Trends in Plant Science 6, 66–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed