Chloride and sulfate salinity differently affect biomass, mineral nutrient composition and expression of sulfate transport and assimilation genes in Brassica rapa

Background and aims It remains uncertain whether a higher toxicity of either NaCl or Na2SO4 in plants is due to an altered toxicity of sodium or a different toxicity of the anions. The aim of this study was to determine the contributions of sodium and the two anions to the different toxicities of chloride and sulfate salinity. The effects of the different salts on physiological parameters, mineral nutrient composition and expression of genes of sulfate transport and assimilation were studied. Methods Seedlings of Brassica rapa L. have been exposed to NaCl, Na2SO4, KCl and K2SO4 to assess the potential synergistic effect of the anions with the toxic cation sodium, as well as their separate toxicities if accompanied by the non-toxic cation potassium. Biomass production, stomatal resistance and Fv/fm were measured to determine differences in ionic and osmotic stress caused by the salts. Anion content (HPLC), mineral nutrient composition (ICP-AES) and gene expression of sulfate transporters and sulfur assimilatory enzymes (real-time qPCR) were analyzed. Results Na2SO4 impeded growth to a higher extent than NaCl and was the only salt to decrease Fv/fm. K2SO4 reduced plant growth more than NaCl. Analysis of mineral nutrient contents of plant tissue revealed that differences in sodium accumulation could not explain the increased toxicity of sulfate over chloride salts. Shoot contents of calcium, manganese and phosphorus were decreased more strongly by exposure to Na2SO4 than by NaCl. The expression levels of genes encoding proteins for sulfate transport and assimilation were differently affected by the different salts. While gene expression of primary sulfate uptake at roots was down-regulated upon exposure to sulfate salts, presumably to prevent an excessive uptake, genes encoding for the vacuolar sulfate transporter Sultr4;1 were upregulated. Gene expression of ATP sulfurylase was hardly affected by salinity in shoot and roots, the transcript level of 5′-adenylylsulfate reductase (APR) was decreased upon exposure to sulfate salts in roots. Sulfite reductase was decreased in the shoot by all salts similarly and remained unaffected in roots. Conclusions The higher toxicity of Na2SO4 over NaCl in B. rapa seemed to be due to an increased toxicity of sulfate over chloride, as indicated by the higher toxicity of K2SO4 over KCl. Thus, toxicity of sodium was not promoted by sulfate. The observed stronger negative effect on the tissue contents of calcium, manganese and phosphorus could contribute to the increased toxicity of sulfate over chloride. The upregulation of Sultr4;1 and 4;2 under sulfate salinity might lead to a detrimental efflux of stored sulfate from the vacuole into the cytosol and the chloroplasts. It remains unclear why expression of Sultr4;1 and 4;2 was upregulated. A possible explanation is a control of the gene expression of these transporters by the sulfate gradient across the tonoplast.