@Article{phyton.2012.81.181,
AUTHOR = {Redha  A, P  Suleman, R  Al-Hasan, M  Afzal},
TITLE = {Responses of <i>Conocarpus lancifolius</i> to environmental stress: a case study in the semi-arid land of Kuwait},
JOURNAL = {Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany},
VOLUME = {81},
YEAR = {2012},
NUMBER = {all},
PAGES = {181--190},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/phyton/v81nall/37025},
ISSN = {1851-5657},
ABSTRACT = {<i>Cococarpus lancifolius</i> Engl. grows wild in Djibouti, Somalia and East Africa, and South Asia. The species was introduced into Kuwait, where it is exposed to several stresses: oil pollution, salinity, high temperature and harsh climatic conditions. These conditions are prevalent in its semi-arid environment. In this study, the impact of salinity (2, 6 and 10%), temperature (20, 30 and 40 °C), polyethylene glycol (10, 30 and 60%) and drought has been investigated on <i>C. lancifolius</i>. Proline (Pro) accumulation (5.5 ± 0.03 µg/g dry weight; p≤0.05-0.005), protein (16.47 ± 0.052 mg/g; p≤0.001), free amino acids (10.92 ± 0.082 mg/g; p≤0.006) and lipids (116.05 ± 2.17 µg/g; p≤0.05) were measured in plants irrigated with 60% polyethylene glycol (PEG) for 6 days. Similar increases in the accumulation of osmolytes were observed under water deficit, NaCl, and temperature-stressed plants. Accumulation of osmolytes was correlated with photosynthetic capacity and electron transport rate. Fifteen different phospholipids were detected in leaf extracts by TLC and 6 major fatty acids were identified by GC/MS analyses. On day 4, the omega-3 fatty acid, linolenic acid was observed the predominant fatty acid present at 61.32% in the 10% PEG-treated plants. The high concentration of this omega-3 fatty acid may help <i>C. lancifolius</i> to adapt to semi-arid conditions in the State of Kuwait. Implications of this study may highlight sustainability of <i>C. lancifolius</i> in the Middle East, African peninsula and other semi-arid regions of the world.},
DOI = {10.32604/phyton.2012.81.181}
}