Effects of sodium chloride stress on growth and physiological characteristics of plants Chrysopogon zizanioides in the greenhouse

Soil salinity is a serious environmental issue in rangeland ecosystems in Iran. Vetiver grass plant species could be a suitable choice for rangeland reclamation due to the salinity tolerance. The current study aimed to investigate growth, catalase, and phenol compounds of vetiver grass in response to salinity stress. A completely randomized block design with 6 salinity levels (0, 4, 8, 16, 32, 44 ds m-1) and 3 replications was set up in vitro. The results showed that salinity had no significant effect (p ≥ 0.05) on leaf and root growth characteristics; however, an significant increasing trend was observed on both leaf and root dry weight. The responses of catalase and phenol compounds to salinity were significant in both leaf and root (p ≤ 0.05). Changes of catalase enzyme in leaves showed a significant increasing trend up to 32 ds m-1 levels which decreased in 44 ds m-1. Catalase enzyme activity in root showed an overall decreasing trend compares to control (0 ds m-1) (p ≤ 0.05). Also, phenol compounds in leaves and root significantly changed due to salinity stress (p ≤ 0.05) with an increasing and decreasing trend, respectively. In overall, this results showed the vetiver grass was well adapted to salinity stress up to 32 ds m-1 in vitru. Therefore, vetiver grass could be recommended for reclamation projects of saline soils where salinity is up to 32 ds m-1.