Increased cucumber salt tolerance by grafting on pumpkin rootstock and after application of calcium

Increased cucumber salt tolerance by grafting on pumpkin rootstock and after application of calcium

Blog Article

Self-grafted and pumpkin rootstock-grafted cucumber plants were subjected to the following four treatments: 1) aerated nutrient solution alone (control), 2) nutrient solution with 10 mM Ca(NO3)2 (Ca), 3) nutrient solution with 90 mM NaCl (NaCl), and 4) nutrient solution with 90 mM NaCl + 10 mM Ca(NO3)2 (NaCl+Ca).The NaCl treatment decreased the plant dry mass and content of Ca2+ and Sharpening Products K+ but increased the Na+ content in roots and shoots.Smaller changes were observed in pumpkin rootstock-grafted plants.Supplementary Ca(NO3)2 ameliorated the negative effects of NaCl on plant dry mass, relative growth rate (RGR), as well as Ca2+, K+, and Na+ content especially for pumpkin rootstock-grafted plants.

Supplementary Ca(NO3)2 distinctly stimulated the Swaging Punch Set plasma membrane (PM) H+-ATPase activity which supplies the energy to remove excess Na+ from the cells.The expressions of gene encoding PM H+-ATPases (PMA) and gene encoding a PM Na+/H+ antiporter (SOS1) were up-regulated when Ca(NO3)2 was applied.The pumpkin rootstock-grafted plants had higher PM H+-ATPase activity as well as higher PMA and SOS1 expressions than the self-grafted plants under NaCl + Ca treatment.Therefore, the addition of Ca2+ in combination with pumpkin rootstock grafting is a powerful way to increase cucumber salt tolerance.