Impact of repetitive salt shocks on seedlings of the halophyte cakile maritima

Abstract

Salinization is one of the main environmental constraints that threat global crop biomass production. Halophytic species are currently widely studied because of their value for the development of saline agriculture. In this study we investigated the impact of repetitive salt shocks to mimic inundation with seawater and recorded changes in ionic and water status, growth parameters and some markers of oxidative stress of sea rocket, Cakile maritima, succulent halophyte which displays potential for economical nutrient food, for therapeutic utilization and for it seeds contain up to 40% of oil. Cakile maritime displayed different growth behavior in response to salt shock. Repetitive salt shocks with NaCl concentrations superior to 200 mM induced a reduction of growth of aerial parts. For the lower concentrations of NaCl (50-100 mM), we observed slight but not significant growth stimulation. Under salt shock, C. martima maintained hydration in the aerial parts despite their high contents in sodium and chlorine. Changes of malondialdehyde (MDA) and ascorbic acid under salt shock revealed beneficial and damaging functions of these molecules at low and high salt shock, respectively.