5. Conclusions
In this study, we demonstrated that ABA-pretreatment signifi-
cantly enhanced tolerance of rice seedlings to alkaline stress as
observed by increases in survival rate and seedling growth. This
priming effect of ABA was attributed at least in part to decrease in
Naþ/Kþ ratio, water loss, and cell membrane injury under alkaline
stress. Our results suggest that ABA positively regulates alkaline
stress tolerance and an adequate application of ABA can provide a
potential approach to improve rice growth in salineealkaline
paddy fields. A field study that applies our present findings is in
progress to determine methods for improving rice growth and
productivity in salineealkaline paddy fields.
Contribution
Zheng-Wei Liang, Chang-Jie Jiang and Li-Xing Wei designed the
research, interpreted results and wrote the manuscript; Li-Xing
Wei, Bing-Sheng Lv, Ming-Ming Wang, Hong-Yuan Ma, Hao-Yu
Yang and Xiao-Long Liu performed laboratory experiments, data
collection and stat