CSIRO Publishing Books Journals About Us Shopping Cart You are here: Journals > Functional Plant Biology   
Functional Plant Biology
  Plant Function & Evolutionary Biology
 
Search
 
 
  Advanced Search
   

Journal Home
About the Journal
Editorial Board
Contacts
Content
Online Early
Current Issue
Just Accepted
All Issues
Special Issues
Research Fronts
Reviews
Evolutionary Reviews
Sample Issue
For Authors
General Information
Notice to Authors
Submit Article
Open Access
For Referees
General Information
Review Article
Annual Referee Index
Referee Guidelines
For Subscribers
Subscription Prices
Customer Service
Print Publication Dates

 Early Alert
Subscribe to our email Early Alert or RSS feeds for the latest journal papers.

 Connect with us
facebook   youtube

 PrometheusWiki
PrometheusWiki
Protocols in ecological and environmental plant physiology

 

Article << Previous     |     Next >>   Contents Vol 32(9)

Stable osmotica in Eucalyptus spathulata — responses to salt and water deficit stress

Andrew Merchant A C, Mark Adams B

A School of Forest and Ecosystem Science, University of Melbourne, Water St, Creswick, Vic. 3363, Australia.
B Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: amerc@unimelb.edu.au
 
PDF (186 KB) $25
 Export Citation
 Print
  


Abstract

Salt and water deficit stress elicited contrasting responses in seedlings of Eucalyptus spathulata (Hook.). Under salt stress, seedlings reduced osmotic potential by accumulating large quantities of inorganic ions in leaf tissues. Sodium concentrations reached 350 mm on a leaf water basis and total cellular osmolality reached ~2000 mm. Under water deficit stress, maximum sodium concentrations were around 50 mm in leaf water and seedlings reduced osmotic potential through increasing concentrations of a range of constitutive solutes up to a total cellular osmolality of ~1200 mm. We postulate that measured concentrations of the cyclic polyol, quercitol, of up to 200 mm leaf water, are the likely means of balancing accumulation of inorganic ions. Under the common assumption of localisation of inorganic ions to the vacuole and organic balancing solutes to the cytoplasm, the concentrations of cyclitol, and other carbohydrates were more than sufficient to balance osmotic potential across the tonoplast membrane. Results confirm other recent studies that suggest a range of putative roles for cyclitols in tissues and these are discussed in the larger context of plant responses to salt and water deficit stress.

Keywords: aridity, cyclitols, eucalypts, osmotic adjustment, quercitol, salinity, water deficit.


   
Subscriber Login
Username:
Password:  

    


 
Top  Email this page
 
Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help

CSIRO

© CSIRO 1996-2012