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AOBPreview published online on May 31, 2005
Annals of Botany, doi:10.1093/aob/mci173
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received November 29, 2004
Revised February 2, 2005
Accepted April 19, 2005

Article

Osmotic and Specific Ion Effects on the Germination of Prosopis strombulifera

LAURA SOSA 1, ANALÍA LLANES 2, HERMINDA REINOSO 3, MARIANA REGINATO 2, and VIRGINIA LUNA 2*

1 Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal, Facultad de Química, Bioquímica y Farmacia, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, 5700, San Luis, Argentina
2 Laboratorio de Fisiología Vegetal, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, 5800, Río Cuarto, Argentina
3 Laboratorio de Morfología Vegetal, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, 5800, Río Cuarto, Argentina

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
VIRGINIA LUNA, E-mail: vluna{at}exa.unrc.edu.ar


  Abstract

• Background and Aims Salinity can affect germination of seeds either by creating osmotic potentials that prevent water uptake or by toxic effects of specific ions. Most studies have only used monosaline solutions, although these limit the extent to which one can interpret the results or relate them to field conditions. The aim of this work was to evaluate the germination of Prosopis strombulifera seeds under increasing salinity by using the most abundant salts in central Argentina in monosaline or bisaline iso-osmotic solutions, or in solutions of mannitol and polyethylene glycol.

• Methods Seeds were allowed to germinate under controlled conditions in a germination chamber at 30 ± 1 °C and at 80 % r.h. Salinizing agents were KCl, NaCl, Na2SO4, K2SO4, NaCl + Na2SO4 and KCl + K2SO4 and osmotic agents were polyethylene glycol 6000 and mannitol. Treatments for all osmotica consisted of 0·0, -0·4, -0·8, -1·2, -1·5, -1·9 and -2·2 MPa solutions.

• Key Results The percentage of germination decreased as salinity increased. SO42- in monosaline solutions, with osmotic potentials -1·2 MPa and lower, was more inhibitory than Cl- at iso-osmotic concentrations. This SO42- toxicity was alleviated in salt mixtures and was more noticeable in higher concentrations. K+ was more inhibitory than Na+ independently of the accompanying anion.

• Conclusions Different responses to different compositions of iso-osmotic salt solutions and to both osmotic agents indicate specific ionic effects. This study demonstrates that the germination of P. strombulifera is strongly influenced by the nature of the ions in the salt solutions and their interactions. Comparative studies of Cl- and SO42- effects and the interaction between SO42- and Cl- in salt mixtures indicate that extrapolation of results obtained with monosaline solutions in the laboratory to field conditions can be speculative.

Keywords: Prosopis strombulifera, seed germination, salinity, osmotic potential, ionic effects.
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