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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 61(5)

Variation in salinity tolerance, early shoot mass and shoot ion concentrations within Lotus tenuis: towards a perennial pasture legume for saline land

N. L. Teakle A B C E , A. Snell A , D. Real A B D , E. G. Barrett-Lennard A B C and T. D. Colmer A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

B Future Farm Industries CRC, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

C Centre for Ecohydrology, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

D Pasture Science Group, Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia, 3 Baron-Hay Court, South Perth, WA 6151, Australia.

E Corresponding author. Email: natasha.teakle@uwa.edu.au

Crop and Pasture Science 61(5) 379-388 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP09318
Submitted: 6 November 2009  Accepted: 4 March 2010   Published: 12 May 2010

Abstract

Perennial legumes are needed for productive pastures in saline areas. We evaluated 40 lines of Lotus tenuis for tolerance to salinity at both germination and vegetative growth stages. Salt tolerance during the early vegetative stage was assessed in a sand-tank experiment with NaCl concentrations of 0–450 mm NaCl for 5 weeks. Most L. tenuis lines were more salt tolerant and had at least 50% lower shoot Na+ plus Cl– (% dry mass (DM)) compared with some other common pasture legumes, Medicago sativa, M. polymorpha and Trifolium subterraneum. Within L. tenuis significant variation in salt tolerance was found, with C50 values (concentrations of NaCl that decreased shoot dry matter to 50% of control) ranging from ~100 to 320 mm. Shoot concentrations of Cl–, Na+ and K+ did not always correlate with salt tolerance; some tolerant lines had low shoot Na+ and Cl– (and thus better nutritive value), while others tolerated high shoot Na+ and Cl–. We also found variation within L. tenuis for salt tolerance of seeds, with lines ranging from 0 to 70% germination after recovery from a prior exposure to 800 mm NaCl for 15 days. There was no relationship between salinity tolerance of scarified seeds and subsequent growth of seedlings; therefore, testing of seeds alone would not be an appropriate screening method for salt tolerance in L. tenuis. This study of 40 L. tenuis lines has shown significant genetic variation for salt tolerance within this species, and we have identified key lines with potential to be productive in saltland pasture systems.

Additional keywords: germination, Medicago sativa, narrow-leaf birdsfoot trefoil, perennial pasture legume, salinity, saltland pastures, salt tolerance, shoot Cl–, shoot Na+.


Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the Department of Agriculture and Food WA for providing A. Snell with an undergraduate studentship. Thanks are also extended to staff at The University of Western Australia Shenton Park Field Station, in particular Jono Warden, for helping set up the sand-tank experiment. Todd Stokes is thanked for conducting a preliminary dose–response experiment on germination and recovery of Lotus tenuis (cv. Chaja) as part of his undergraduate research project, from which we selected the 800-mm treatment used in the present work.


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