Exposure to High Salinity During Seed Development Markedly Enhances Seedling Emergence and Fitness of the Progeny of the Extreme Halophyte Suaeda salsa.

Jianrong Guo,Huaying Tian,Baoshan Wang,Ming Du

doi:10.3389/fpls.2020.01291

Abstract

Irrigation with 200 mM NaCl significantly increases vegetative and reproductive growth of the extreme halophyte Suaeda salsa. However, little is known about how the progeny of S. salsa plants grown under a continuous NaCl supply behave in terms of growth and seed set parameters. We investigated various plant growth and reproductive parameters of the progeny that germinated from seeds harvested from mother plants grown under 0 or 200 mM NaCl over three generations. Seedling emergence, plant height, stem diameter, total branch length, flowering branch length, flowering branch ratio, and seed production were all significantly enhanced in the progeny produced by mother plants grown with 200 mM NaCl compared to progeny of mother plants grown on low salinity conditions. Therefore, irrigation with 200 mM of NaCl is beneficial to seed development in the halophyte S. salsa and possibly contributes to population establishment in high salinity environments. Likewise, the prolonged absence of NaCl in the growth environment inhibits seed development, results in lower seed quality, and thus limits seedling growth of the progeny, thereby restricting S. salsa to a high salinity ecological niche.

Highlights

Rising soil salinization is an emerging and major source of degradation of arable land
To investigate the effect of the growth conditions experienced by the mother plant on the seed quality and seed germination, we tested the seed germination indicators exposed to NaCl over three generations of S. salsa seeds harvested from mother plants grown in the presence of 0 or 200 mM NaCl (Figures S1–S4)
To investigate the effect of the growth conditions experienced by the mother plant on the seed quality and, seedling growth as seeds emerge during the generation, we tested the seedling emergence exposed to NaCl over three generations of S. salsa seeds harvested from mother plants grown in the presence of 0 or 200 mM NaCl (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Rising soil salinization is an emerging and major source of degradation of arable land. High salinity affects nearly 10% of soils and 50% of irrigated land in the world (Guo et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2015; Song et al, 2017). High salt environments can greatly inhibit seedling growth and yield in salt-sensitive crops (Munns et al, 2006; Kotula et al, 2015), while salt-tolerant (halophyte) plants grow well under the same conditions (Guo et al, 2018). Deciphering the mechanisms at play during salt tolerance displayed by halophytes will provide the molecular basis for a better utilization of saline-alkali soil. High soil salinity inhibits seed germination due to the low osmotic potential

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Discussion

Conclusion