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Following exposure to salinity, the root/shoot ratio is increased (an important adaptive response) due to the rapid inhibition of shoot growth (which limits plant productivity) while root growth is maintained. Both processes may be regulated by changes in plant hormone concentrations. Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv Moneymaker) were cultivated hydroponically for 3 weeks under high salinity (100 mM NaCl) and five major plant hormones (abscisic acid, ABA; the cytokinins zeatin, Z, and zeatin-riboside, ZR; the auxin indole-3-acetic acid, IAA; and the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, ACC) were determined weekly in roots, xylem sap, and leaves. Salinity reduced shoot biomass by 50–60% and photosynthetic area by 20–25% both by decreasing leaf expansion and delaying leaf appearance, while root growth was less affected, thus increasing the root/shoot ratio. ABA and ACC concentrations strongly increased in roots, xylem sap, and leaves after 1 d (ABA) and 15 d (ACC) of salinization. By contrast, cytokinins and IAA were differentially affected in roots and shoots. Salinity dramatically decreased the Z+ZR content of the plant, and induced the conversion of ZR into Z, especially in the roots, which accounted for the relative increase of cytokinins in the roots compared to the leaf. IAA concentration was also strongly decreased in the leaves while it accumulated in the roots. Decreased cytokinin content and its transport from the root to the shoot were probably induced by the basipetal transport of auxin from the shoot to the root. The auxin/cytokinin ratio in the leaves and roots may explain both the salinity-induced decrease in shoot vigour (leaf growth and leaf number) and the shift in biomass allocation to the roots, in agreement with changes in the activity of the sink-related enzyme cell wall invertase. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Leaf senescence is one of the most limiting factors to plant productivity under salinity. Both the accumulation of specific toxic ions (e.g. Na+) and changes in leaf hormone relations are involved in the regulation of this process. Tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv Moneymaker) were cultivated for 3 weeks under high salinity (100 mM NaCl) and leaf senescence-related parameters were studied during leaf development in relation to Na+ and K+ contents and changes in abscisic acid (ABA), cytokinins, the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), and the auxin indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Na+ accumulated to a similar extent in both leaves 4 and 5 (numbering from the base of the plant) and more quickly during the third week, while concurrently K+ contents sharply decreased. However, photosystem II efficiency, measured as the Fv/Fm ratio, decreased from the second week of salinization in leaf 4 but only at the end of the third week in the younger leaf 5. In the prematurely senescent leaf 4, ABA content increased linearly while IAA strongly decreased with salinization time. Although zeatin (Z) levels were scarcely affected by salinity, zeatin-riboside (ZR) and the total cytokinin content (Z+ZR) progressively decreased by 50% from the imposition of the stress. ACC was the only hormonal compound that increased in leaf tissue coincident with the onset of oxidative damage and the decline in chlorophyll fluorescence, and prior to massive Na+ accumulation. Indeed, (Z+ZR) and ACC contents and their ratio (Z+ZR/ACC) were the hormonal parameters best correlated with the onset and progression of leaf senescence. The influence of different hormonal changes on salt-induced leaf senescence is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: Hormonal changes in two Medicago ciliaris lines differing in salt tolerance (TNC 1.8 being more tolerant than TNC 11.9) were studied as possible regulators of growth and symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF). After 21 days of saline treatment (100mM NaCl), four major phytohormones (abscisic acid, ABA; the cytokinin trans-zeatin, t-Z; the auxin indole-3-acetic acid, IAA; and the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, ACC) were analysed. Salinity differently affected hormone concentrations in vegetative tissues and nodules in both lines. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that growth and SNF parameters under salinity were inversely correlated to the amount of reduced nitrogen (Nred) allocated to the roots and nodules, to the sucrolytic activity (TSA) in the roots, and to the t-Z and ABA concentration in the nodules. However, those parameters were positively associated along PC1 to the Nred and TSA in the leaves and all the hormones analysed in the roots. Interestingly, the ACC concentration of all organs was positively associated with vegetative growth and with SNF under salinity, as a putative regulator of the symbiotic-parasitic relation with the bacteria. The influence of hormonal changes in relation to plant growth, SNF and symbiotic relation is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]