Contribution of organic and inorganic solutes to osmotic adjustment of physic nut under salinity

The objectives of this work were to evaluate the organic and inorganic solutes accumulation and measure their contribution to the osmotic adjustment of physic nut (Jatropha curcas L.) leaves under salinity. The experiment was carried out using a completely randomized design with five treatments (0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mmol L-1 of NaCl) and four replications. Plants were hydroponically grown under greenhouse controlled conditions of photoperiod (12 hours), temperature (average of 28 degrees C), relative humidity (average of 65%), and with maximum photosynthetically active radiation average of 700 mu mol m(-1) s(-1). The leaf osmotic potential decreased progressively, changing from-0.84 to-2.05 MPa, while the relative water content increased in the 75 and 100 mmol L-1 treatments. The relative contribution of Na+ and Cl-ions were the most important quantitatively for the leaf osmotic adjustment of salt-treated plants, 52 and 20%, respectively. The relative contribution of K+ decreased significantly with added salt, changing from 17 to 5% as the NaCl level increased from 25 to 100 mmol L-1. The average contribution of sugars, amino acids, glycinebetaine, and proline was approximately 5.5, 6, 4, and 0.03%, respectively. The physic nut leaves exhibited an effective osmotic adjustment under salinity, maintaining their hydration status, mainly via Na+ and Cl- accumulation. Glycinebetaine was more important to osmotic adjustment than proline in both salt-treated and untreated plants.