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Nitrogen-15 Uptake by Eggplant Under Sodium Chloride Stress

Dep. of Soil and Water Science, Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721

*Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Plant growth and nutrient uptake are adversely affected under salt stress conditions. This study was conducted to examine the effects of NaCl stress on growth of eggplant (Solanum melongena L., cv. Syria), and ¹⁵N uptake and distribution in plant shoots and roots. Absorption pattern of ¹⁵N by eggplant from normal (–0.03 MPa osmotic potential) and NaCl salinized (–0.3 and –0.6 MPa osmotic potentials) nutrient solutions was investigated in a growth chamber. The 21-d-old seedlings were grown for 7 d in complete Hoagland solution before and 7 d after the completion of salt treatments. This was followed by 3-d growth in minus N solution with respective salinity levels, and a 90-d ¹⁵N uptake period after ¹⁵NH₄¹⁵NO₃ addition to nutrient solutions. Nutrient solutions were sampled at 5-d intervals for ¹⁵N disappearance from the pots (plant absorbed). Plant tissues were analyzed for distribution of ¹⁵N in shoots and roots. Lowering the osmotic potential of culture solution decreased total N and ¹⁵N uptake by plants at all salinity levels. Increasing salinity decreased dry matter production and water uptake to a greater extent than ¹⁵N absorption. Nitrogen-15 concentration was substantially higher in shoots and roots of salinized plants as compared with the controls at the 90-d harvest. Only at the 30-d harvest was ¹⁵N concentration in shoots significantly higher than in roots at each salinity level. Any level of NaCl in the root medium appears to be detrimental to eggplant growth in terms of dry matter production as well as nitrogen (N and ¹⁵N) and water uptake.

Contribution from the Dep. of Soil and Water Science, Univ. of Arizona.

Received for publication February 11, 1988.