Ionomic analysis of citrus scion–rootstock combinations: implications for sodium chloride stress tolerance

The objective of the present study was to assess the impact of 30 and 60 mM of sodium chloride (NaCl) stress on sweet orange cultivar Pusa Sharad (PS) grafted on 11 different citrus rootstocks, i.e., Jatti Khatti (JK), X-639 (X9), CRH-12 (C12), NRCC-1 (N1), NRCC-2 (N2), NRCC-3 (N3), NRCC-4 (N4), NRCC-5 (N5), Troyer citrange (TC), CRH-47 (C47) and Cleopatra mandarin (CM) compared with control treatment.The nitrogen (N) concentration in leaves and roots decreased by 10-40%, phosphorus (P) by 11-34%, potassium (K) by 7-49%, calcium (Ca) by 4-43% and magnesium (Mg) by 8-29% as the NaCl in the irrigation water spiraled from control to 60 mM of NaCl stress depending upon the sensitivity of rootstocks.The PS grafted on C12 and JK, N4 and N2 had greater Cl -and Na + in the root as compared to leaf.However, The PS grafted on CM and X9 had least Na + and Cl -concentration in leaf and root at 30 and 60 mM of NaCl concentration thus suggesting that CM and X9 rootstocks are more tolerant to salt stress than JK, C12, N4 and N2 and have potential for imparting tolerance in the sweet orange scion cv.Pusa Sharad.