Plant Soil Environ., 2016, 62(7):314-320 | DOI: 10.17221/771/2015-PSE

Accumulation capacity of ions in cabbage (Brassica oleracea L.) supplied with sea waterOriginal Paper

M.F. Gu¹, N. Li², T.Y. Shao², X.H. Long², M. Brestič³, 5, H.B. Shao³, 6, J.B. Li⁴, S. Mbarki7

¹ Agricultural Experimental Station of Xinyang, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yancheng, P.R. China

² College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, P.R. China

³ Institute of Agro-biotechnology, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, P.R. China

⁴ Institute of Vegetable Research, Jiangsu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Nanjing, P.R. China

⁵ Department of Plant Physiology, Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, Slovak Republic

⁶ Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yanatai, P.R. China

⁷ The Laboratory of Plant Extremophiles, Biotechnology Center at the Technopark of Borj-Cedria, Hammam-Lif, Tunisia

Cabbage seedlings were grown hydroponically to study the effects of different concentrations of seawater on the seedling growth, ion content under one-fourth strength Hoagland's nutrient solution in the greenhouse. The biomass of various organs of cabbage seedlings as well as the whole plants was significantly higher in the treatments with 1 g and 2 g sea salt/L than the no-salt control, but the treatments with 4, 5 or 6 g sea salt/L caused a decrease in growth. Root/shoot ratio remained at the level of control regardless of the sea salt treatment. Na⁺ and Cl^- concentration in different parts of cabbage seedlings increased significantly, whereas K⁺ and Ca²⁺ concentration generally increased at low concentrations of sea salt and then decreased with increasing seawater concentration. Sodium and K⁺ concentrations were significantly higher in the stems than roots and leaves regardless of the sea salt treatment. The sea salt treatment increased Mg²⁺ concentration in stems and leaves of cabbage seedlings. An increase in Na⁺ and Cl^- concentration in roots, stems and leaves of cabbage seedlings was the main contributor to declining ratios of K⁺/Na⁺, Ca²⁺/Na⁺ and Mg²⁺/Na⁺. The obtained data suggest that cabbage seedlings have strong ability to sustain seawater stress by the regulation of transport and distribution of ions.

Keywords: salinity; Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata; salt tolerance; sea salt stress; ion uptake

Published: July 31, 2016  Show citation