Tolerance and recovery of the annual pasture legumes Melilotus siculus, Trifolium michelianum and Medicago polymorpha to soil salinity, soil waterlogging and the combination of these stresses

Aims This study evaluated the responses to and recovery from soil waterlogging, soil salinity and the combination of these stresses of the annual pasture legumes Melilotus siculus cv. Neptune, Trifolium michelianum cv. Frontier and Medicago polymorpha cv. Scimitar. The major aim was to test the tole...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Plant and soil Vol. 444; no. 1/2; pp. 267 - 280
Main Authors:	Kotula, Lukasz, Kwa, Huey Y., Nichols, Phillip G. H., Colmer, Timothy D.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cham Springer Science + Business Media 01-11-2019 Springer International Publishing Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:	Alfalfa Biomedical and Life Sciences Ecology Greenhouses Legumes Life Sciences Medicago polymorpha Melilotus siculus Nutrients Pasture Plant Physiology Plant Sciences Recovery REGULAR ARTICLE Saline soils Salinity Salinity effects Sodium chloride Soil salinity Soil Science & Conservation Stresses Trifolium michelianum Waterlogged ground Waterlogging Pasture or forage legumes Salinity-waterlogging interaction Salinity tolerance Waterlogging tolerance Leaf Na
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Summary:	Aims This study evaluated the responses to and recovery from soil waterlogging, soil salinity and the combination of these stresses of the annual pasture legumes Melilotus siculus cv. Neptune, Trifolium michelianum cv. Frontier and Medicago polymorpha cv. Scimitar. The major aim was to test the tolerance of these plants to salinity and waterlogging in soil inoculated with rhizobia, adding to previous controlled-environment studies, which have used nutrient solution cultures, as well as to examine post-stress recovery. Methods Plants were grown in pots of soil inoculated with their appropriate species-specific rhizobia. Drained non-saline controls, and waterlogged non-saline, drained saline (100 mM NaCl) and waterlogged saline treatments were imposed for 3 weeks, followed by a 4 week recovery period. Results In the waterlogged saline soil, shoot dry mass of M. siculus was 63% of the control, compared to 10% for T. michelianum and 5% for M. polymorpha , and after the recovery phase was 75% of the control for M. siculus , 58% for T. michelianum and 4% for M. polymorpha . Foliar Na + concentrations of T. michelianum and M. polymorpha were 2.8-fold higher than for M. siculus . Conclusions The greater tolerance of M. siculus can be attributed to regulation of leaf Na + concentrations in saline conditions and the formation of aerenchymatous phellem to enhance O 2 supply to roots in waterlogged soils. This controlled glasshouse study using pots of soil supports earlier nutrient solution experiments and field observations that M. siculus possesses greater tolerance of combined waterlogging and salinity, than T. michelianum and M. polymorpha .
ISSN:	0032-079X 1573-5036
DOI:	10.1007/s11104-019-04254-z