Glycine betaine aldehyde as a promising new source of valuable physiological indices of Prosopis spp.

 Soil salinity has become a very serious issue in many parts of the world. Salinity is the most important factor limiting plants growth in these areas. Therefore, in order to make better use of saline soils, it is necessary to identify salinity-resistant plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of salinity on the response of two Prosopis species to salt stress at arid and semi-arid lands. The present study was done as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design. The first factor was salinity of 1.8 (control), 5.8, 10.2 and 16.4 dS/ m and the second factor and second factors were two genotypes (P.cineraria and P.juliflora). The results showed a gradual decrease in stem height, total leaf area, root and shoot dry weight and number of leaves per seedling of both species by increasing salinity of the root zone. Low salinity levels (5.8 dS/ m) do not cause a substantial inhibition of growth, but increasing the salt concentration gradually reduces the vegetative characteristics. In both genotypes, proline, total nitrogen, Glycine betaine aldehyde and calcium (Ca) increased with increasing salt concentration. Also, these factors were significantly higher in Prosopis juliflora than Prosopis cineraria. Potassium (K), organic carbon (OC %), decreased significantly in both genotypes with increasing salt concentration. Glycine betaine aldehyde is one of the effective strategies in salt stress tolerance and increasing carbon storage in soil.