Effect of Salinity on Carbon Isotope Discrimination of Shoot and Root of Four Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) Cultivars

Author
A. Dadkhah
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract
A factorial pot experiment based on randomized complete blocks design with four replications was carried out in order to evaluate salt tolerance of four sugar beet cultivars including Madison (British origin) and three Iranian cultivars (7233-P12, 7233-P21 and 7233-P29) using carbon isotope discrimination (Δ). Plants were grown in sand culture medium in greenhouse conditions. Sugar beet cultivars were irrigated with saline water (tap water as control, 50, 150, 250 and 350 mM of NaCl and CaCl2 in 5: 1 molar ratio) from 4-leaf stage for 16 weeks. Carbon isotope discrimination significantly decreased with increasing salinity. Significant differences of Δ between shoot and root were observed in all cultivars and all levels of salinity. Madison cv. showed lower Δ in shoot and root than the other three cultivars at all levels of salinity except the control, but cv. 7233-P29 had significantly higher Δ values at saline conditions of 150 mM and above. Although the regression of Δ and Ci/Ca was positive, the slope of regression line was different from the pattern predicted by theory, indicating an underestimation of Δ in these samples. Relatively higher 13C (lower Δ) was found in root as compared with shoots.

Keywords

1. Alam, S. M. 1994. Nutrient Uptake by Plants under Stress Conditions. In: "Handbook of Plant and Crop Stress", (Ed.): Pessarakli, M.. Marcel Dekker, New York, PP. 227-246.
2. Brugnoli, E. and Farquhar, G.D. 2000. Photosynthetic Fractionation of Carbon Isotope. In: "Advance in Photosynthesis, Photosynthesis: Physiology and Metabolism", (Eds.): Leegood, R. C., Sharky, T. D. and von Caemmerer, S.. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, 9: 399-434.
3. Brugnoli, N. and Lauteri, M. 1991. Effect of Salinity on Stomatal Conductance, Photosynthesis Capasity and Carbon Isotope Discrimination of Salt Tolerant (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and Salt Sensitive (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) C3 nonhalophytes. Plant Physiol., 95: 628-635.
4. Chapin, F. S. 1980. The Mineral Nutrition of Wild Plants. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Systemat., 11: 233-260.
5. Dadkhah, A. 2011. Effect of Salinity on Growth and Leaf Photosynthesis of Two Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) Cultivars. J. Agric. Sci. Technol., 13: 1001-1012.
6. Dadkhah, A. R. and Griffiths, H. 2004. Stomatal and Non-stomatal Components to Inhibition of Photosynthesis in Leaves of Sugar Beet Plants under Salt Stress. Iran Agric. Res., 23: 35-50.
7. Dubey, R. S. and Pessarakli, M. 1995. Physiological Mechanisms of Nitrogen Absorption and Assimilation in Plants under Stressful Conditions. In: In: "Handbook of Plant and Crop Physiology", (Ed.): Pessarakli, M.. Marcel Dekker, New York, PP. 605-625.
8. Farquhar, G. D., Ehleringer, J. R. and Hubick, K. T. 1989. Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Photosynthesis. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol., 40: 503-537.
9. Farquhar, G. D., O'leary, M. H. and Berry, J. A. 1982. On the Relationship between Carbon Isotope Discrimination and the Intercellular Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Leaves. Aust. J. Plant Physiol., 9: 121-137.
10. Flowers, T. J., Troke, P. F. and Yeo, A. R. 1977. The Mechanism of Salt Tolerance in Halophytes. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol., 28: 89-121.
11. Guy, R. D., Reid, D. M. and Krouse, H. R. 1986. Factors Affecting 13C/12C Ratios of Inland Halophytes. I. Controlled Studies on Growth and Isotopic Composition of Puccinellia muttalliana. Can. J. Bot., 64: 2693-2699.
12. Hester, M. W., Mendelssohn, I. A. and McKee, K. L. 2001. Species and Population Variation to Salinity Stress in Panicum hemitomon, Spartina patens, and Spartina alterniflora: Morphological and Physiological Constraints. Environ. Exp. Bot., 46: 277-297.
13. Hubick, K. T., Shorter, R. and Farquhar, G. D. 1988. Heritability and Genotype Environmental Interactions of Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Transpiration Efficiency in Diverse Peanut (Arachis) Germplasm. Aust. J. Plant Physiol., 13: 803-816.
14. Joshi, S. 1987. Effect of Soil Salinity on Nitrogen Metabolism in Cajanus cajan L. Indian J. Plant Physiol., 30: 223-225.
15. Kafi, M., Griffiths, H., Nezami, A., Kazaie, H. R. and Sharif, A. 2007. Effect of Salinity on Carbon Isotope Discrimination of Shoot and Grain of Salt-tolerant and Salt-sensitive wheat cultivars. Asian J. Plant Sci., 6(8): 1166-1173.
16. Leidi, O. E., Lopez, M., Gorham, J. and Gutierrez, J. C. 1999. Variation in Carbon Isotope Discrimination and other Traits Related to Drought Tolerance in Upland Cotton Cultivars under Dry Land Conditions. Field Crop Res., 61: 109-123.
17. Lissner, J., Schierup, H., Comin, F. A. and Astorga, V. 1999. Effect of Climate on the Salt Tolerance of Two Phragmites australis Populations. Aquatic Botany, 64: 317-333.
18. Matzner, S. L., Kevin, J. R. and Richards, J. H. 2001. Factors Affecting the Relationship between Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Transpiration Efficiency in Blue Oak (Quercus douglasii). Aust. J. Plant Physiol., 28: 49-56.
19. Pessarakli, M. and Tucker, T. C. 1985. Uptake of Nitrogen-15 by Cotton under Salt Stress. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 49: 149-152.
20. Qingzhen, J., Roche, D., Monaco, T. A. and Durham, S. 2006. Gas Exchange, Chlorophyll Fluorescence Parameters and Carbon Isotope Discrimination of 14 Barley Genetic Lines in Response to Salinity. Filed Crop Res., 96: 269-278.
21. Rajabi, A., Ober, E. S. and Griffiths, H. 2009. Genotypic Variation for Water Use Efficiency, Carbon Isotope Discrimination and Potential Surrogate Measures in Sugar Beet. Field Crop Res., 112: 172-181.
22. Schmidt, H. L. and Gleixner, G. 1998. Carbon Isotope Effects on Key Reaction in Plant Metabolism and 13C-patterns in Natural Compounds. In: "Stable isotopes Integration of Biological, Ecological and Geochemical Processes", (Ed.): Griffiths, H.. BIOS Scientific Publishers, Oxford, PP.13-25.
23. Virgona, J. M. and Farquhar, G. D. 1996. Genotypic Variation in Relative Growth Rate and Carbon Isotope Discrimination in Sunflower Is Related to Photosynthetic Capacity. Aust. J. Plant Physiol., 23: 227-236.
Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology
Volume 15, Issue 5
September and October 2013
Pages 901-910