Growth and physiological responses of the halophyte Salicornia ramosissima to CO2 enrichment and salinity

PEREZ-ROMERO, J.A.; IDASZKIN, Y.L.; BARCIA-PIEDRAS, J.M.; REDONDO-GÓMEZ, S.; DUARTE, B.; CAÇADOR, I.; MATEOS-NARANJO, E.

Sevilla

Conferencia; XIV MEDECOS & XIII AEET meeting; 2017

International Society of Mediterranean Ecology

Climate change emerges as one of the biggest challenges for sustaining global food security so it is crucial to research aboutalternative crops; species capable of growing in hostile environments (salinity and water deficit). In this respect halophyte plants, likeSalicornia ramosissima, may be considered because they possess morphological and physiological traits that allow them to surviveagainst rough conditions. A glasshouse experiment was design to study the growth and physiological response of the halophyteSalicornia ramosissima, selected for its commercial interests as practical crop, in synergistic conditions of elevated CO2 (400 and700 ppm) and salinity (0, 171, 510 mM NaCl). Gas exchange, efficiency of PSII, photosynthetic pigments profiles, carbon isotopicdiscrimination and antioxidant enzymatic activity were measure to follow the physiological state of the plants. Our results revealedthat S. ramosissima was able to maintain its growth even at salinities of 510 mM NaCl or 700 ppm of CO2, since there was no significantdifference between any treatments in the relative growth rate, RGR, although it was lower at 0 mM NaCl. Also, our preliminaryresults showed a positive effect on S. ramosissima development at 700 ppm CO2, in terms of enhancement of chlorophyll a and bconcentrations and modulation of its antioxidant enzymatic activity which was showed by the superoxide dismutase.