This study investigated the influence of anthropogenic salinization on planktonic rotifer communities and traced changes in their diversity along a salinity gradient. The experiment was conducted in 14 ponds of varied anthropogenic origin located in Poland’s Silesian Upland. On the basis of the mean concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS) and principal component analysis (PCA), the water bodies were divided into 4 groups in respect to salinity: freshwater ponds, TDS < 500 mg·dm⁻³; subsaline ponds, TDS = 500-3,000 mg·dm⁻³; hyposaline ponds, TDS = 3,000-20,000 mg·dm⁻³; and mesosaline ponds, TDS = 20,000-50,000 mg·dm⁻³. An increase in salinity resulted in a decrease of rotifer species richness and diversity. Salinity also had a negative effect on mean rotifer density. The highest densities were recorded in freshwater and hyposaline ponds, whereas the lowest were in subsaline and mesosaline waters. Rotifer species richness differed significantly at 2 salinity thresholds: TDS = 500 mg·dm⁻³ and 20,000 mg·dm⁻³.
This study was conducted in order to determine the appropriate treatment for breaking dormancy and the effect of salinity on seed germination of purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea cv. Magnus), in two separate experiments. In the first experiment, five levels of gibberellic acid (GA3) (0, 250, 500, 1000, and 1500 mg×L-1) with four levels of cold moist stratification period of seeds at 5°C (0, 5, 10 and 15 days) were launched. A factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with four replications. The statistical analysis showed that concentration of 250 mg×L-1 GA3 with 10 days of cold moist chilling significantly increased the percentage of germination of normal seedlings and reduced the mean time of germination. In the second experiment, the seeds were chilled for 10 days at 5°C and half of them treated with 250 mg×L-1 GA3 for 24 hours. The seeds treated with GA3, and those non-treated were subjected to NaCl for salinity stress. The experiment was conducted using five salinity levels (0, 20, 40, 60 and 80 mM NaCl) in four replications in a completely randomized design. The results showed that purple coneflower is highly sensitive to salinity in the germination stage. The results also showed that by increasing salinity levels, the percentage of germination and normal seedlings significantly decreased and the mean time to germination increased, compared to the control treatment. But the seeds treated with GA3 showed higher viability and better performance under salinity stress condition.
In vitro microtuberization provides an adequate experimental model for the physiological and metabolic studies of tuberization and the preliminary screenings of potential potato genotypes. The effects of saline stress at 0-80 mmol concentration on in vitro tuberization of two potato cultivars were investigated in this study. With an increase in the salt concentration, the microtuberization of potato was either delayed by 5-10 days (20 and 40 mmol NaCl) or inhibited completely (80 mmol NaCl) in addition to the reduction in microtuber yields. The two potato genotypes studied showed different trends in total soluble sugars, sucrose and starch contents of microtubers under NaCl stress, while glucose and fructose levels remained unchanged. The vitamin C content in microtubers of two potato genotypes was reduced by salt stress. Salinity applied from 20 to 60 mmol progrestively increased proline and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in microtubers of both the potato cultivars. In genotype Zihuabai, NaCl at a low concentration (20 mmol) led to a signifi cant increase in peroxidase (POD) and polyphenoloxiadase (PPO) activities, while in Jingshi-2, the PPO activity decreased progressively with an increase in NaCl concentrations. Genotype Zihuabai exhibited higher tolerance to salt stress than Jingshi-2 under in vitro conditions. These results could be used for preliminary selections of salt tolerance in potato breeding programmes.
Pots experiment was carried out during season 2017 at greenhouse of the Agric. Bot. Dep., Fac. of Agric., Zagazig Univ., Egypt to evaluate the effect of glycine betaine (GB) application under salinity stress (50 and100 mM Nacl) on growth, physio-chemical analysis and yield of snap bean cv. Bronco. A complete randomized blocks design was used in this search with three replications. Growth parameters, chlorophyll content and green pod yield were significantly decreased with subjecting plants to NaCl. However foliar application of GB detoxified the stress generated by NaCl and significantly improved the above mention parameters. Salinity stress increased the electrolyte leakage (EL) and decreased membrane stability index (MSI) and relative water content (RWC). While foliar application of GB was improved MSI and RWC and minimized EL. Proline content and antioxidant enzymes significantly increased in the response to NaCl stress as well as GB application.