John Libbey Eurotext




Variability of growth and ion accumulation in Atriplex halimus
Cahiers Agricultures. Volume 5, Number 5, 367-72, Septembre-Octobre 1996, Étude originale
Résumé Article gratuit
Author(s) : Hela Ben Ahmed, Ezzedine Zid, Mohamed El Gazzah, Claude Grignon
Summary : Seeds harvested from the same Atriplex halimus L cv. halimus stock plant growing near the sea were sown, and the plantlets were subsequently grown in synthetic liquid medium under artificial lighting. The Na+ in the medium was adjusted to a suboptimal level (300 mM) for biomass production. The main ions (K ⁺, Na ⁺, Ca ²⁺ and Cl ^-) were analysed in the roots, stems and leaves. There was marked heterogeneity in biomass production, ion accumulation, and K ⁺/Na ⁺ selectivity during folar accumulation of these ions. The dispersion for each individual value, measured by the coefficient of variation, differed according to parameters, i.e. 58-75% for dry weight, 30-35% for most ionic concentrations, and less than 12% for the Na+ concentration and total cations. The high polymorphism in biomass production highlights the possibility of breeding fast-growing genotypes in saline medium. However, the close linear correlation between the dry weights and the Na ⁺ concentration indicates that these genotypes would have high cation levels (especially Na ⁺) in leaves, associated with anion oxalate.
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Variability of growth and ion accumulation in Atriplex halimus