Salt (NaCl) tolerance in the Ni hyperaccumulator Alyssum murale and the Zn hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens

Many metal hyper accumulating plants have to tolerate abiotic stresses in their native soils such as high metals concentration, low nutrient status and drought. This paper tests the ability of the Ni-hyperaccumulator Alyssum mural and two races of the Zn-hyperaccumulator Thlaspi caerulescens to tolerate salinity. The plants were exposed to salt (NaCl) solution ranging between 0mM and 100mM in conjunction with either high or low concentration of Ni or Zn. Alyssum mural was the most resistant to salt in terms of seedling emergence and survival of emerged seedlings. The two races of T. caerulescens and T. arvense were salt sensitive