Effect of salinity on seed germination, seedling growth, and physiological characteristics of Perilla frutescens

Abstract

Salt stress is one of the major environmental factors limiting crop growth and yield. To understand the effect of salt stress on plant growth, we investigated the response of three perilla varieties (Suyin 1, Ziye 7, and Ziye 10) to NaC1 exposure at concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 mM in terms of seed germination, seedling growth, root activity, contents of soluble sugar, proline, and malondialdehyde (MDA), and peroxidase (POD) enzyme activity. Germination characteristics, such as the percentage of seed germination, tended to decrease with increasing NaC1 concentrations. After three weeks of salt stress, the three varieties exhibited different salt tolerance in terms of seed germination, seedling growth, and physiological changes: seedling growth was inhibited to various degrees, seedling vigor and root activities decreased, and MDA, proline, and soluble sugar contents increased with increasing NaCl concentrations. POD enzyme activity, a protective mechanism against salt stress, increased at low NaC1 concentrations in Suyin1 (0–150 mM) and Ziye 7 (0–100 mM), and then decreased at higher NaCl concentrations. In Ziye 10, on the other hand, POD activity dropped significantly with increasing NaCl concentrations. These results suggest that among the three varieties Suyin 1 is more salt tolerant than Ziye 7 and Ziye 10, and that Ziye 10 is the most sensitive to salt stress.