Salinities—Framing Knowledge into Multiple Agricultural Contexts

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Farming Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 November 2020) | Viewed by 7998

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici, Italy
Interests: plant adaptation to environmental constraints (salinity, drought)

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Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural Sciences, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, 80138 Napoli, NA, Italy
Interests: open field vegetable production; greenhouse production; sustainable water and nutrition management; hydroponic systems; crop water and salinity stress-tolerance
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Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Salinization of soils and water used for irrigation is amongst the most critical environmental stresses, accounting altogether for almost 70% loss of the potential crop yield. The progression of salinization is due to several converging causes including increasing evapotranspiration due to global warming, increasing competition for water resources due to demographic growth, and improper management of water and irrigation practice in agriculture. Major efforts over the years have greatly advanced our understanding of the molecular and physiological basis underlying crop response to salinity and our ability to design effective strategies to improve crop tolerance and management in saline environments. However, we also need to frame current knowledge into the multiple forms of salinity. Inland vs coastal salinization, seasonal vs long-term salinization, types of salts in salinized water and their effects on crops and soils, hidden salinization, residual salinization in field crops, salinization in soil-less agriculture are only a few of the different forms of salinity that are affecting the globe. The complexity of salinization calls for a joint effort from multiple disciplines so to match scientific advances and crop needs under different agricultural contexts. The special issue on Salinities is open to accept papers addressing this concept.

Prof. Dr. Albino Maggio
Prof. Dr. Stefania De Pascale
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 3245 KiB  
Article
Development and Application of Image-Based High-Throughput Phenotyping Methodology for Salt Tolerance in Lentils
by Ruwani Dissanayake, Hossein V. Kahrood, Adam M. Dimech, Dianne M. Noy, Garry M. Rosewarne, Kevin F. Smith, Noel O. I. Cogan and Sukhjiwan Kaur
Agronomy 2020, 10(12), 1992; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10121992 - 18 Dec 2020
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 4568
Abstract
Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress in Australian lentil-producing areas. It is therefore imperative to identify genetic variation for salt tolerance in order to develop lentil varieties suitable for saline soils. Conventional screening methods include the manual assessment of stress symptoms, which [...] Read more.
Soil salinity is a major abiotic stress in Australian lentil-producing areas. It is therefore imperative to identify genetic variation for salt tolerance in order to develop lentil varieties suitable for saline soils. Conventional screening methods include the manual assessment of stress symptoms, which can be very laborious, time-consuming, and error-prone. Recent advances in image-based high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) technologies have provided unparalleled opportunities to screen plants for a range of stresses, such as salt toxicity. The current study describes the development and application of an HTP method for salt toxicity screening in lentils. In a pilot study, six lentil genotypes were evaluated to determine the optimal salt level and the growth stage for distinguishing lentil genotypes using red–green–blue (RGB) images on a LemnaTec Scanalyzer 3D phenomics platform. The optimized protocol was then applied to screen 276 accessions that were also assessed earlier in a conventional phenotypic screen. Detailed phenotypic trait assessments, including plant growth and green/non-green color pixels, were made and correlated to the conventional screen (r = 0.55; p < 0.0001). These findings demonstrated the improved efficacy of an image-based phenotyping approach that is high-throughput, efficient, and better suited to modern breeding programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Salinities—Framing Knowledge into Multiple Agricultural Contexts)
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17 pages, 2330 KiB  
Article
Raising Beet Tolerance to Salinity through Bioaugmentation with Halotolerant Endophytes
by Sonia Szymańska, Jarosław Tyburski, Agnieszka Piernik, Marcin Sikora, Justyna Mazur and Hrynkiewicz Katarzyna
Agronomy 2020, 10(10), 1571; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10101571 - 15 Oct 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2770
Abstract
Increasing land salinization in recent decades has led to a decrease in crop productivity worldwide. We hypothesized that bioaugmentation of beetroot (Beta vulgaris) with halotolerant endophytic bacterial strains isolated from the obligatory halophytic plant Salicornia europaea L. may mitigate salt stress [...] Read more.
Increasing land salinization in recent decades has led to a decrease in crop productivity worldwide. We hypothesized that bioaugmentation of beetroot (Beta vulgaris) with halotolerant endophytic bacterial strains isolated from the obligatory halophytic plant Salicornia europaea L. may mitigate salt stress in new host plants. Therefore, we investigated the effects of inoculation with Pseudomonas stutzeri ISE12 or Kushneria marisflavi CSE9 on B. vulgaris growth in substrates enriched with various NaCl concentrations (0, 50, 150, 300 mM). The results of this study indicated that bioaugmentation with either bacteria resulted in improved growth parameters and increased chlorophyll content, as well as decreased proline and hydrogen peroxide concentrations, in B. vulgaris organs. However, K. marisflavi CSE9 was more efficient in achieving salt stress mitigation than P. stutzeri ISE12. In conclusion, the range of salinity tolerance seems to be a key parameter in the selection of strains for beet inoculation. The selected halotolerant endophytes (P. stutzeri ISE12 and K. marisflavi CSE9) isolated from the roots of obligatory halophytic S. europaea may be employed for plant growth promotion, especially in saline areas, and have potential applications in sustainable agriculture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Salinities—Framing Knowledge into Multiple Agricultural Contexts)
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