Soil Chemical Analysis

1. Plant Nutrients. 2. The Soil as a Plant Nutrient Medium. 3. Nutrient Uptake and Assimilation. 4. Plant Water Relationships. 5. Plant Growth and Crop Production. 6. Fertilizer Application. 7. Nitrogen. 8. Sulphur. 9. Phosphorus. 10. Potassium. 11. Calcium. 12. Magnesium. 13. Iron. 14. Manganese. 15. Zinc. 16. Copper. 17. Molybdenum. 18. Boron. 19. Further Elements of Importance. 20. Elements with More Toxic Effects. General Readings. References. Index.

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Principles of plant nutrition

Halophytes, plants that survive to reproduce in environments where the salt concentration is around 200 mM NaCl or more, constitute about 1% of the worlds flora. Some halophytes show optimal growth in saline conditions; others grow optimally in the absence of salt. However, the tolerance of all halophytes to salinity relies on controlled uptake and compartmentalization of Na+, K+ and Cl- and the synthesis of organic compatible solutes, even where salt glands are operative. Although there is evidence that different species may utilize different transporters in their accumulation of Na+, in general little is known of the proteins and regulatory networks involved. Consequently, it is not yet possible to assign molecular mechanisms to apparent differences in rates of Na+ and Cl- uptake, in root-to-shoot transport (xylem loading and retrieval), or in net selectivity for K+ over Na+. At the cellular level, H+-ATPases in the plasma membrane and tonoplast, as well as the tonoplast H+-PPiase, provide the transmembrane proton motive force used by various secondary transporters. The widespread occurrence, taxonomically, of halophytes and the general paucity of information on the molecular regulation of tolerance mechanisms persuade us that research should be concentrated on a number of model species that are representative of the various mechanisms that might be involved in tolerance.

Salinity tolerance in halophytes

http://nhjy.hzau.edu.cn/kech/ssyy/qysd/njsl/21.pdf

Potential biochemical indicators of salinity tolerance in plants

This review describes physiological mechanisms and selectable indicators of gene action, with the aim of promoting new screening methods to identify genetic variation for increasing the salt tolerance of cereal crops. Physiological mechanisms that underlie traits for salt tolerance could be used to identify new genetic sources of salt tolerance. Important mechanisms of tolerance involve Na+ exclusion from the transpiration stream, sequestration of Na+ and Cl- in the vacuoles of root and leaf cells, and other processes that promote fast growth despite the osmotic stress of the salt outside the roots. Screening methods for these traits are discussed in relation to their use in breeding, particularly with respect to wheat. Precise phenotyping is the key to finding and introducing new genes for salt tolerance into crop plants.

Approaches to increasing the salt tolerance of wheat and other cereals

Summary
The growth and metabolism of plants in response to different concentrations of tissue K is discussed in relation to current knowledge about the distribution and functions of this ion in plant cells. In the cytoplasm, K has an important role in providing the correct ionic environment for metabolic processes. The ionic requirements of protein synthesis seem to be particularly important in determining the composition of the cytoplasm. Potassium is not replaceable in its cytoplasmic functions and the plant probably needs to maintain the cytoplasmic concentration of K in the range of 100 to 200 mM. Potassium salts in the vacuole are involved in the generation of turgor but when unavailable they can be replaced by other solutes. Salts of other cations such as Na and Mg are often a readily available alternative to K but in their absence organic solutes must be accumulated.

With these observations as a basis, a model is proposed in which, as the concentration of K in the tissue declines, the concentration in the cytoplasm is initially maintained constant, while that in the vacuole decreases. In order to maintain turgor, alternative solutes are accumulated in the vacuole as replacements for K. It is assumed that K in the vacuole can only drop to a certain minimum level and, once this is reached, any further decline of tissue K must be at the expense of that in the cytoplasm. This leads to a decrease in the rate of metabolic processes that depend on K and so to a decline in growth. The hypothesis explains the observed relationships between growth and concentrations of K in tissues, and their modification by Na and other cations.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1469-8137.1984.tb04103.x

A hypothesis relating critical potassium concentrations for growth to the distribution and functions of this ion in the plant cell

In the first part of this review the main features of salt tolerance in higher plants are discussed. The hypothesis of intracellular compartmentation of solutes is used as a basis for models of tolerance mechanisms operating in roots and in leaves. Consideration is given to the implications of the various mechanisms for the yield potential of salt-tolerant crop plants.

Some mechanisms of salt tolerance in crop plants

The chemical compositions of a number of halophytes from salt marshes on Ynys Mon (Anglesey), Wales, and of some related mesophytes and sand dune plants have been determined. Analyses of the inorganic ions broadly confirmed the existence of a characteristic chemical composition of many monoco-tyledonous salt-marsh plants in that they contain high levels of potassium and relatively low levels of sodium. In contrast to most dicotyledonous halophytes, especially members of the Chenopodiacease, the monocots restrict the entry of inorganic ions and use high levels of soluble sugars to maintain an adequate solute potential. Low calcium levels were not found to be a feature of these plants, as was previously reported. The large amounts of sugars found in the monocotyle-donous plants suggested that they must be located mainly in the vacuoles, in contrast to glycinebetaine which is thought to accumulate principally in the cytoplasm of the salt accumulating Chenopodiaceae. The monocotyledonous halophytes which accumulate proline differ from the normal monocotyledonous physiotype in the accumulation of larger quantities of sodium. Triglochin maritima is one species of this type, and Puccinellia maritima a less extreme example. Spartina spp. accumulating glycinebetaine and β-dimethyl-sulphoniopropionate also have unusually high inorganic ion contents for monocots. Several salt marsh plants contained large quantities of amino acids other than proline. As with ionic composition, the nature of the organic solutes broadly followed taxonomic lines. The usefulness of the physiotype concept is discussed.

Chemical composition of salt‐marsh plants from Ynys Môn (Anglesey): the concept of physiotypes

The experiments described here were designed to compare the ability of T. aestivum, T. durum, H. vulgare, and H. spontaneum to restrict the accumulation of Na (and Cl) in the shoots, and to maintain high K concentrations

Salt tolerance in the Triticeae: K/Na discrimination in barley.

Right-side-out plasma membrane vesicles were isolated from wheat roots using an aqueous polymer two-phase system. The purity and orientation of the vesicles were confirmed by marker enzyme analysis. Membrane potential (Ψ)-dependent 22Na+ influx and sodium/proton (Na+/ H+) antiport-mediated efflux across the plasma membrane were studied using these vesicles. Membrane potentials were imposed on the vesicles using either K+ gradients in the presence of valinomycin or H+ gradients. The ΔΨ was quantified by the uptake of the lipophilic cation tetraphenylphosphonium. Uptake of Na+ into the vesicles was stimulated by a negative ΔΨ and had a Km for extrav-esicular Na+ of 34.8 ± 5.9 mol m3. The ΔΨ-dependent uptake of Na+ was similar in vesicles from roots of hexaploid (cv. Troy) and tetraploid (cv. Langdon) wheat differing in a K+/Na+ discrimination trait, and was also unaffected by growth in 50 mol m−3 NaCl. Inhibition of ΔΨ-dependent Na+ uptake by Ca2+ was greater in the hexaploid than in the tetraploid.

Sodium/proton antiport was measured as Na+-dependent, amiloride-inhibited pH gradient formation in the vesicles. Acidification of the vesicle interior was measured by the uptake of 14C-methylamine. The Na+/H+ antiport had a Km, for intravesicular Na+ of between 13 and 19 mol m−3. In the hexaploid, Na+/H+ antiport activity was greater when roots were grown in the presence of 50 mol m−3NaCl, and was also greater than the activity in salt-grown tetraploid wheat roots. Antiport activity was not increased in a Langdon 4D chromosome substitution line which carries a trait for K+/Na+ discrimination. It is concluded that neither of the transport processes measured is responsible for the Na+/K+ discrimination trait located on the 4D chromosome of wheat.

R. G. Wyn Jones

Papers

A hypothesis relating critical potassium concentrations for growth to the distribution and functions of this ion in the plant cell

Some mechanisms of salt tolerance in crop plants

Chemical composition of salt‐marsh plants from Ynys Môn (Anglesey): the concept of physiotypes

Salt tolerance in the Triticeae: K/Na discrimination in barley.

Sodium transport measured in plasma membrane vesicles isolated from wheat genotypes with differing K+/Na+ discrimination traits