Poonam Choudhary, Manoj Kumar and Sunder Singh Arya
Department of Studies and Research in Biotechnology, Tumkuru University, Tumkuru-572 102 (Karnataka), India
*(e-mail : rajanaik1100@gmail.com; Mobile : 8217253664)
(Received : December 13, 2019, Accepted : February 15, 2020)
ABSTRACT
Halophytes emerging in the natural saline environment live to high salinity levels by adopting effective mechanisms. Scientific knowledge on these survival mechanisms may be useful in the creation of extreme saline soil management options. Various dominating salt hyper-accumulator plants were collected from some semi-arid and salt-affected sites of Rohtak and Jhajjar districts of Haryana, namely, Atriplex nummularia, Atriplex lentiformis, Arundo donax, Tamarix aphylla, Heliotropium ramossimum, Suaeda fruticosa and Suaeda nudiflora; which were found flourishing there. The study aimed at evaluating some biochemical responses (proline, total soluble sugar, soluble protein) of these native halophytes along with their chlorophyll content at different salinity levels having ECe values ranging from 9.75 – 53.9 dS/m. Increasing salinity significantly decreased total soluble sugar, soluble protein and a marginal reduction in chlorophyll content, whereas a rise in proline content accumulation was observed, which could be attributable to
increased halophyte osmotic changes.
Key words : Halophytes, osmoprotectants, salinity