4.7 Article

Vegetative and reproductive growth of salt-stressed chickpea are carbon-limited: sucrose infusion at the reproductive stage improves salt tolerance

Journal

JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY
Volume 68, Issue 8, Pages 2001-2011

Publisher

OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erw177

Keywords

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.); flowering; photosynthate supply and demand; photosynthesis; plant sucrose infusion; podding; salinity stress; seed growth; tissue ions; tissue sugars

Categories

Funding

  1. Australia-India Strategic Research Fund Grand Challenge Project of the Australian Government Department of Industry [GCF010013]
  2. Endeavour Postgraduate Award from the Australian Government
  3. School of Plant Biology at The University of Western Australia

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Reproductive processes of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) are particularly sensitive to salinity. We tested whether limited photoassimilate availability contributes to reproductive failure in salt-stressed chickpea. Rupali, a salt-sensitive genotype, was grown in aerated nutrient solution, either with non-saline (control) or 30 mM NaCl treatment. At flowering, stems were either infused with sucrose solution (0.44 M), water only or maintained without any infusion, for 75 d. The sucrose and water infusion treatments of non-saline plants had no effect on growth or yield, but photosynthesis declined in response to sucrose infusion. Salt stress reduced photosynthesis, decreased tissue sugars by 22-47%, and vegetative and reproductive growth were severely impaired. Sucrose infusion of salt-treated plants increased total sugars in stems, leaves and developing pods, to levels similar to those of non-saline plants. In salt-stressed plants, sucrose infusion increased dry mass (2.6-fold), pod numbers (3.8-fold), seed numbers (6.5-fold) and seed yield (10.4-fold), yet vegetative growth and reproductive failure were not rescued completely by sucrose infusion. Sucrose infusion partly rescued reproductive failure in chickpea by increasing vegetative growth enabling more flower production and by providing sucrose for pod and seed growth. We conclude that insufficient assimilate availability limits yield in salt-stressed chickpea.

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