Osmotic Stress Contributions to Salinity Induced Damage in Seashore Paspalum.

Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum) is a warm-season turfgrass known for its high levels of salt tolerance. Salt tolerance is a valuable trait as there is a greater desire to use recycled or non-potable water sources, such as brackish water, to irrigate turf areas and improve sustainability. High salinity levels induce a number of damages including damage to photosynthetic machinery, production of reactive oxygen species, reduced growth, and leaf firing. General salt stress is considered to occur in two phases, the osmotic stress phase where the accumulation of ions alters water potential, and the ion toxicity phase were the high concentrations of ions results in direct phytotoxicity. Although many pathways are involved in regulating salt tolerance, there is a need to better understand which ones are responsible for specifically mitigating osmotic stress components. To explore contributions of osmotic stress components in seashore paspalum plants were grown hydroponically and exposed to non-stress control conditions, high salt concentrations to induce salinity stress, or exposed to a polyethyelene glycol solution to alter the solutions water potential and induce osmotic stress. Subsequently measurements on stress induced damages and associated mechanism of tolerance were measured. Understanding how osmotic components of salinity stress damage turfgrasses, as well as the mechanisms of tolerance utilized to maintain growth and metabolism in spite of abiotic stress is important for both increasing salinity tolerance levels in seashore paspalum, as well as other turfgrass species.