Volume 62 Number 4 Article 2
Year 2008 Month 10
Title: Effect of the Shank Length of Pyrus betulaefolia Rootstock on the Photosynthesis and the Sodium and Chloride Distribution of Japanese Pear Saplings under Saline Conditions
Authors: K. Matsumoto, F. Tamura, J.P. Chun, C. Zhang, K. Tanabe
Abstract:
In this study, ‘Kousui’ pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) was grafted onto P. betulaefolia (Bunge), a salt-tolerant
rootstock for the Japanese pear, using different shank lengths.
Following this, the salt tolerance of the plants was
compared.
Potted one-year-old plants were subjected to 30 mM or 60 mM NaCl solutions for seven weeks.
Shoot
growth, photosynthesis, and Na and Cl concentrations and distributions were assessed.
Plants with longer shanks
had a higher photosynthetic rate than those with shorter shanks; however, comparisons of leaf Na and Cl contents
showed only slight differences when exposed to the 30 mM NaCl solution.
For plants exposed to the 60 mM NaCl
solution, those with longer shanks showed lower Na and Cl concentrations in the leaves than plants with shorter
shanks.
Moreover, those with longer shank lengths maintained structural root growth.
Thus, plants with longer
shanks restricted the transport of Na and Cl to their leaves by maintaining structural root growth and accumulating
Na and Cl in the structural root.
Grafting the scion onto a long shank rootstock can improve the salt tolerance of
a young pear tree.
Consequently, this practice may be useful for Japanese pear cultivation in regions where the
plants would otherwise suffer salt stress.
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