Physiological and Genetic Responses of Halophyte Aeluropus Littoralis to Salinity

Salinity stress causes ionic and osmotic stress resulting in cell death، inhibition of growth and ultimate adverse reducing crop productivity. In present study mechanism of salinity tolerance of Aeluropus littoralis under treatment of sodium chloride in four levels of salinity (120، 250، 450 and 600 mM) were investigated by cDNA-AFLP profiling. Salinity reduced the shoot growth، shoot to root ratio and Chlorophyll content and gene silencing was raised with increasing salinity. In 250 mM of salinity the plants had the highest physiological growth and the maximum number of expressed TDFs and also the greatest quality variance than control comparing to other levels of salinity. The results indicated that plants have the best response to salinity in the 250 mM of salinity and this level is appropriate to reveal mechanism of salt tolerance in this halophyte. Seems to silencing of genes that are active in control level، activation of some genes that are silence in control level، reduction expressed TDFs، reduction in Shoot to root ratio and a subsequent reduction in plant growth by salinity treatment is the common mechanism for salinity tolerance in this halophyte so that induction of salinity tolerance by expression of these silenced genes cause increase of growth in stress condition even than control.