Growth and physiological response of tall oat grass to salinity stress

In order to evaluate the responses of tall oat grass plants to increasing salinity, we measured plant growth, ion contents, photosynthetic gas exchange, lipid peroxidation, and proline accumulation in four salt concentrations. Two tall oatgrass genotypes, ZXY03P-367 and ZXY03P-443, were grown for 14 days in greenhouse conditions and after 14 days treated with four NaCl treatments (0, 65, 100, and 135 mM) for 21 days. Most parameters for the two genotypes were significantly different when they were subjected to 100 and 135 mM NaCl. Salt treatment led to decreases in root and shoot biomass, photosynthetic rate (A) and stomatal conductance (g(s)), and K+ content, and a concurrent increase in Na+ content. Larger reductions in the parameters occurred in ZXY03P-443. A significant accumulation of lipid peroxidation and proline in leaves was found during the period of intensive leaf growth. These organic compounds likely played a role in leaf osmotic adjustment and in the protection of membrane stability at severe salinity levels. Our results indicated that the two tall oatgrass genotypes differ in their sensitivity to salinity, with ZXY03P-336 classified as relatively salt tolerant and ZXY03P-443 as sensitive.