Changes in Root Water Uptake and Chlorophyll Fluorescence of Rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Dongjin) Seedling under NaCl Stress

Abstract

The physiological and photochemical responses of rice seedling to NaCl stress were investigated through measuring leaf relative water content (RWC), root water uptake and chlorophyll fluorescence. When plants were exposed to increased salinity stress, the visual symptoms of injury were significant at ≥500 mM NaCl concentration for 4 and 5 day stress periods. The differences in Fv/Fm between control treatment and plants treated with 500 mM and 1,000 mM NaCl were evident after 5 day and 4 day, respectively, whereas in root water uptake its effect was observed at 500 mM and 1,000 mM NaCl at 2 day of salt-stressed periods. Leaf RWC in salt-stressed plants decreased gradually with increasing salinity in exogenous solution and duration of salt stress, and these decrease showed leaf RWC of 58-68% atduration over 2 day stress of 1,000 mM NaCl treatment and 88% at 1 day stress. NaCl stress led to a significant inhibition of the light-induced greening in etiolated rice plants, especially in 4 and 5 day salt-stressed plants, which linearly decreased with NaCl concentration (R2=0.812 and 0.918, respectively). The effects of NaCl stress in rice seedlings indicate that water uptake in root is more sensitive to increasing NaCl concentration and stress duration than Fv/Fm in leaves compared with the same NaCl concentration.