Nutrition uptake in Aeluropus (Aeluropus littoralis L.) halophyte plant under salt conditions

Costal salinity grass or Aeluropus is a perennial halophyte and native to different regions in Iran such as costal of Mazandaran Sea and deserts in central part of country. In the current experiment some macronutrients (N, P, K) and micronutrients (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn) content in different parts of plant (root, stem and leaf) were determined under 0, 200, 400, 600 and 800mM levels of salinity. Results showed that nitrogen accumulation in root (33%), stem (43%) and leaf (17-93%) significantly decreased under salinity conditions compared to the check. Similarly, leaf and root phosphorous content markedly decreased under 400-800mM of seawater concentrations (up to 30 and 40%, respectively) compared to the check plants. By contrast, the leaf potassium content under 200 and 400 mM treatments were not markedly affected by salinity conditions, while the leaf potassium content increased around 34% in 600 and 800mM seawater concentrations. In this experiment, the micronutrients except copper in the plant are mainly accumulated in the roots with small translocation quantities to the stem and leaf. The zinc, copper, iron and manganese content of root decreased in range of 14 to 37, 28 to 53, 27 to 43 and 36 to 61 percentages, respectively under 200-800 mM seawater treatments compared to the check plants.