Physiological Response of Halophyte (Suaeda altissima (L.) Pall.) and Glycophyte (Spinacia oleracea L.) to Salinity

We have done a comparative study of ion status, growth and biochemical parameters in shoots and roots of seablite (Suaeda altissima (L.) Pall.) and spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) grown with different salinity levels in the medium (0.5 - 750 mМ). A distinctive feature of the halophyte was a high Na+ content in tissues at its low concentration in the medium (0.5 mM). In these conditions, Na+ accumulation in seablite roots was four-fold higher than in spinach roots, and Na+ content in seablite leaves was almost 20-fold higher than in spinach. Together with an increase in sodium concentration in the medium, K+ content decreased six-fold in seablite leaves, while in spinach it did not decrease so drastically. We can suppose that in the halophyte, some processes occur only in the presence of sodium, and these functions of sodium cannot be fully fulfilled by potassium. Analysis of protein and total nitrogen content in tissues shows that at high salinity, the ability to synthesize non-protein nitrogen-containing compounds increases in the halophyte and decreases in the glycophyte. Data on proline content dynamics show that its increase in tissues of spinach (salinity levels 150 and 250 mМ) and seablite (salinity levels 0.5 and 750 mМ) is an indicator of plant injury. In seablite and spinach, proline is not a major osmoregulator. Its concentration both in roots and leaves was no more than 2.5 μmol/g fresh weight. The data presented in this work concern the accumulation and distribution of Na+, Cl?, K+ and ions, as well as growth and biochemical parameters. Our data show that the development of adaptation reactions in the whole plants in the conditions of high salinity is determined by morphofunctional systems and their interaction.