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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Control of salt transport from roots to shoots of wheat in saline soil

Shazia Husain A , Susanne von Caemmerer B and Rana Munns A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CSIRO Plant Industry, GPO Box 1600, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

B Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, PO Box 475, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: rana.munns@csiro.au

Functional Plant Biology 31(11) 1115-1126 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP04078
Submitted: 27 April 2004  Accepted: 17 September 2004   Published: 18 November 2004

Abstract

Wheat genotypes with 5-fold difference in shoot Na+ concentrations were studied over a salinity range of 1–150 mm NaCl and CaCl2 of 0.5–10 mm to assess their performance in saline and sodic soils. All genotypes had a maximum shoot Na+ concentration at 50 mm external NaCl when the supplemental Ca2+ provided an activity of 1 mm or more. Shoot Na+ concentrations either stayed constant from 50 to 150 mm external NaCl, or decreased in some genotypes at the higher salinity. Calculated rates of root uptake, and root : shoot transport, were at a maximum at 50 mm NaCl in all genotypes, and decreased at higher NaCl in some genotypes, indicating feedback regulation. K+ showed a pattern inverse to that of Na+. Cl uptake and transport rates increased linearly with increasing salinity, and differed little between genotypes. Increasing external Ca2+ concentration reduced the accumulation of Na+ in the shoot, the effects being greater in the low Na+ genotypes, and greater as the salinity increased, indicating that the plateau in shoot Na+ concentration relied on the maintenance of a minimal Ca2+ activity of 1 mm. Increasing external Ca2+concentration did not reduce the root Na+ concentration, however, suggesting that Ca2+ influenced the loading of Na+ in the xylem.

Keywords: salt sensitive, salt tolerant, wheat.


Acknowledgments

We thank Lorraine Mason for atomic absorption spectroscopy, Tricia Wallace for XRF analysis, and Ray Hare for providing the durum genotypes. We also thank Peter Ryan, Tim Colmer and John Passioura for helpful comments on the manuscript.


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