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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #307782
Title: Growth and physiological responses of five cotton genotypes to sodium chloride and sodium sulfate saline water irrigation

Author
item NIU, GENHUA - Texas A&M Agrilife
item RODRIGUEZ, DENISE - Texas A&M Agrilife
item DEVER, JANE - Texas A&M Agrilife
item ZHANG, JINFA - New Mexico State University

Submitted to: Journal of Cotton Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/20/2013
Publication Date: 7/1/2013
Citation: Niu, G., Rodriguez, D., Dever, J., Zhang, J. 2013. Growth and physiological responses of five cotton genotypes to sodium chloride and sodium sulfate saline water irrigation. Journal of Cotton Science. 17(3):233-244.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This study was conducted to investigate the salt tolerance of five cotton genotypes [three Gossypium hirsutum L. (DN 1, DP 491, and FM 989) and two G. barbadense L. (Cobalt and Pima S-7)] under sodium chloride or sodium sulfate salinity conditions at similar osmotic potentials (100 mM sodium chloride vs. 70 mM sodium sulfate and 150 mM sodium chloride vs. 111 sodium sulfate). To investigate whether the addition of calcium sulfate could alleviate the deleterious salinity effect, two more treatments were prepared by adding 10 mM calcium sulfate to 150 mM sodium chloride and 111 mM sodium sulfate solutions. All genotypes had significant growth reduction in all salt treatments as compared to their respective controls. Whereas Upland and Pima cotton did not differ in response to salt, DP 491 had lower growth reduction as compared to other genotypes and was therefore more salt tolerant. Salt type did not affect the growth of FM 989 and Pima S-7; however, dry weight of all organs were reduced to a greater extent by sodium chloride than by sodium sulfate in most organs in Pima Cobalt, shoot and total dry weight in DP 491, and root dry weight in DN 1. The addition of calcium sulfate alleviated some detrimental effects in DN 1 caused by sodium chloride and in Pima Cobalt caused by sodium sulfate. The five genotypes also responded to salt treatments differently in that DN 1 and DP 491 had higher sodium and chloride ion concentrations and higher leaf osmotic potentials than the other three genotypes except for higher chloride ion concentrations in Cobalt. These results indicated that diversity of salt-tolerant mechanisms existed among the five cotton genotypes.