The effect of sodium chloride salinity on the growth, water status and ion content of Phragmites communis trin.

The present study deal with the physiological behavior of Phragmites communis under salt stress. The effects of salinity on growth, dry weight partitioning, water status and ion content were studied on seedlings of P. communis fed with nutrient solutions containing 0 to 600 mM NaCl. The plants grew best when irrigated with distilled water; biomass production and Relative Growth Rate (RGR) decreased with increasing salinity. Nevertheless, plants were able to produce and allocate dried matter to all their organs even at the highest salt level (600 mM NaCl). The leaves showed the lowest growth activity. Increasing salinity was accompanied by a decrease in seedling water content; aerial parts were more dehydrated than roots. Examination of the K+/Na+ selectivity revealed that salt tolerance of reed plants may be due to its capacity to limit Na+ transport and to enhance K+ transport into aerial parts resulting in a high K/Na ratio. Our results suggest an exclusive behavior towards Na+ as shown by the decreasing Na+ gradients from leaves to roots. It is concluded that Na+ exclusion mechanism appeared to be operative and contributes to salt tolerance of Phragmites.