In order to investigate the salt tolerance of three Pennisetum species, salt stress
test has been carried out for 30 days. The salinity gradients in soils are treated as five levels,
including 0.25g/kg, 0.35g/kg, 0.5g/kg, 0.6g/kg and 0.8g/kg, to study their morphological and
physiological changes compared with clear water treatment. The test results on the plant
mortality, percentages of dead leaves and the growth of stalk and leaf, show that the order of the
salt tolerance of three species from strong to weak is as follows: Pennisetum alopecuriodes ‘Little
Bunny’, P. setaceum ‘Rueppelii’ and P. alopecuroides ‘Ziguang’, their salinity tolerance
corresponding with 0.6g/kg, 0.5g/kg and 0.35g/kg in soils respectively. With increasing salinity,
the activity of SOD, CAT and POD in the leaves of all three Pennisetum species shows a trend
of increasing first and then decreasing, especially the activity of SOD with the greatest change.
The activity of SOD in P. alopecuroides ‘Ziguang’, P. setaceum ‘Rueppelii’, P.alopecuriodes
‘Little Bunny’ reaches the peak values at the salinity levels of 0.35g/kg, 0.5g/kg and 0.6 g/kg,
respectively, which is coincident with the results of percentages of dead leaves, and the growth
of stalk and leaf. Therefore, the salt tolerance can be estimated by measuring the peak values of
SOD activity. |