Interaction of Salinity and Anaerobiosis in Barley and Rice

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Abstract
Barley and rice at the early tillering stage were exposed simultaneously to anaerobiosis and high [NaCl]. Barley was grown at 0.5, 70, and 125 mol m−3 NaCl, and rice at 2, 20, 40, and 80 mol m−3 NaCl. Surprisingly, anaerobiosis only slightly aggravated the adverse effects of high [NaCl] on root and shoot growth of both species. For rice and barley grown under aerobic conditions, high [NaCl] increased [Na+] and [Cl−] and decreased [K+] in both roots and shoots. However, the changes in ion concentrations in the shoots were smaller for rice than for barley. For roots of barley, anaerobiosis decreased [Na+], [Cl−], and [K+] at both low and high [NaCl], possibly as a result of inhibition of active ion accumulation. For barley shoots, anaerobiosis increased [Na+] and [Cl−], but only at high salinity; in contrast, [K+] was reduced by anaerobiosis at both low and high [NaCl]. These results indicate that anaerobiosis slightly increased the permeability of the barley root system to Na+ and Cl−. For rice, the most important interaction between salinity and anaerobiosis occurred in the shoots, where anaerobiosis increased [Na+] and decreased [K+], particularly at 40 and 80 mol m−3 NaCl, while there was no interaction between anaerobiosis and salinity for Cl− uptake. It is therefore suggested that anaerobic treatment of rice decreased the selectivity for K+ over Na+ of cation transport to the shoots, at least for plants grown at high salinities.