Responses of two lines of Medicago ciliaris to Fe deficiency under saline conditions

Abstract

The aim of this research was to study the responses of two lines of Medicago ciliaris: TN11.11 and TN8.7 to iron deficiency under saline conditions. However; the paper showed also the results of a preliminary study which report the contrastive responses of the two lines to salinity. We found that plant growth and chlorophyll content of TN11.11 line were more affected by salinity than TN8.7. The severity of symptoms was linked to the sodium accumulation in shoots as well as a limitation of potassium uptake. Our data allowed us to note that TN8.7 line is less sensitive and can better cope with the salinity. Concerning the effect of salinity on iron deficiency responses, we noted that root PM H+-ATPase and FCR activities were reduced when iron deficiency was associated with salinity. This probably explained the decrease of Fe uptake. On the contrary, PEPC activity was not affected.