Short-term Effects of Salinity Stress on the Turgor and Elongation of Growing Barley Leaves

Gerhard Thiel, Jonathan Lynch, André Läuchli

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

56 Scopus citations

Abstract

The growth of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) leaves is reduced by salt stress. We measured leaf elongation, turgor, and solute potential in the expanding and mature regions of growing barley leaves for 3 h following addition of 1, 40, 80, or 120 mol m-3 NaCl to intact seedlings in nutrient solution. Increasing NaCl concentrations progressively reduced leaf elongation. The inhibition was due primarily to the osmotic component of salinity and was not specific to Na or Cl. Salinity reduced the turgor of epidermal cells in both mature and expanding tissue. The turgor of expanding tissue recovered after a short time due to osmotic adjustment, whereas turgor remained low in mature tissue. Our data support the view that in the short term, salinity reduces leaf elongation through osmotic effects on the turgor of expanding tissue.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)38-44
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Plant Physiology
Volume132
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1988

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Physiology
  • Agronomy and Crop Science
  • Plant Science

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