Sodium chloride improves seed vigour of the euhalophyte Suaeda salsa

Suaeda salsa is an annual herbaceous euhalophyte in the family Chenopodiaceae that produces dimorphic seeds on the same plant under natural conditions. In order to determine the effect of salinity on seed quality traits during seed formation, seeds from plants grown under control conditions and on 200 mM NaCl were used to investigate the effect of NaCl on seed production and seed germination. Results showed that size and weight of both black and brown seeds generated from 200 mM NaCl-treated plants were markedly greater than those from controls. The germination percentage of brown seeds from both control and NaCl-treated plants was higher than that of black seeds. Furthermore, the germination percentage of the black seeds generated from 200 mM NaCl-treated plants was significantly higher than that of the control at different concentrations of NaCl, although germination percentage declined with the increase NaCl concentration. Surprisingly, NaCl did not affect germination of the brown seeds. The germination index and vigour index of both black and brown seeds from the control plants were significantly lower than those of seeds from the different NaCl treatments. Seed starch, soluble sugar, protein and lipid content of both black and brown seeds generated from the 200 mM NaCl-treated plants were significantly higher than those from the control. These results suggest that a certain concentration of NaCl plays a pivotal role in seed vitality of the euhalophyte S. salsa through increasing seed weight and contents of storage compounds such as protein, starch and fatty acids.