Effect of calcium against salinity-induced inhibition in growth, ion accumulation

and proline contents in Cichorium intybus L.

 

Anjum Arshi¹, Altaf Ahmad¹, Ibrahim M. Aref² and Muhammad Iqbal*^1,2

 

¹Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi - 110 062, India

²Department of Plant Production, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh - 11451, Saudi Arabia

 

(Received: September 07, 2009; Revised received: February 15, 2010; Accepted: February 26, 2010)

 

Abstract: This study assesses the effect of NaCl (80 and 160 mM) and CaCl₂ (10 mM) solutions, alone and in combination, to 30-day-old seedlings of Cichorium intybus L. Observations were made at 30 day intervals from the time of treatment till harvest (180 days after sowing). Application of NaCl resulted in significant decreases in lengths of root and stem, in dry weights of root, stem and leaves and in the leaf area, as compared with control. The reduction was less with the combined application of NaCl and CaCl₂ than with the NaCl treatment alone. On the contrary, treatment of CaCl₂ alone promoted the above variables. Proline content in the leaves was enhanced with NaCl and CaCl₂ alone as well as with the NaCl + CaCl₂ treatments; the maximum (six-fold) enhancement was observed with the combined treatments, compared with NaCl (four-fold increase) and CaCl₂ (two-fold increase) alone. The sodium (Na⁺) and Chloride (Cl) contents in different plant parts increased both with NaCl and with NaCl + CaCl₂ treatments. The maximum accumulation was observed in leaves, followed by that in stem and root. The potassium (K⁺) and calcium (Ca²⁺) contents decreased under NaCl stress, but increased with CaCl₂ treatment. Thus, calcium ameliorated the deleterious effects of NaCl stress and stimulated the plant metabolism and growth.

Key words: Calcium chloride, Cichorium intybus L., Growth regulation, Sodium chloride, Salinity stress

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