Abstract
Moderately saline water has been proposed as a potential irrigation resource for crops such as forage sorghum (Sorghum bicolor × Sorghum bicolor nothosubsp. drummondii) in drought-prone regions. However, it is not yet fully understood how salinity affects growth and potential toxicity of sorghum. Sorghum produces the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin, which can cause hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) poisoning in grazing animals. To address this, two glasshouse experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 assessed tolerance of sorghum to a range of salt treatments (0, 12.5, 25, 50, 100 and 150 mM NaCl). Experiment 2 assessed whether moderately saline irrigation would relieve drought stress by growing sorghum under three treatments: no watering (drought), watering with freshwater, or watering with 50 mM NaCl. All treatments lasted 7 weeks. In Experiment 1, salinities as low as 25 mM NaCl significantly reduced biomass, despite sorghum being able to exclude sodium from entering transpiring leaves at NaCl concentrations up to 50 mM. Foliar concentrations of dhurrin positively correlated with salinity and exceeded the safe threshold for cattle of ≥12.5 mM NaCl. In Experiment 2, moderately saline water effectively alleviated drought stress of sorghum, with significant reductions in growth and photosynthesis in the drought treatment compared to the 50 mM NaCl treatment. While sorghum's survival and growth may be boosted by moderately saline irrigation during droughts, its cyanogenic glucoside concentrations should be monitored to ensure safety for grazing animals.
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Claims 7
Claim · model-written summary
NaCl at 25 mM significantly reduced sorghum biomass.
SorghumNot reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“salinities as low as 25 mM NaCl significantly reduced biomass”
t0“forage sorghum”
Claim · model-written summary
Sorghum excluded sodium from transpiring leaves at NaCl up to 50 mM.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“sorghum being able to exclude sodium from entering transpiring leaves at NaCl concentrations up to 50 mM”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar dhurrin concentration correlated positively with salinity.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Foliar concentrations of dhurrin positively correlated with salinity”
t0“forage sorghum”
Claim · model-written summary
Foliar dhurrin exceeded the cattle safety threshold at NaCl at least 12.5 mM.
- Outcome
- Foliar concentrations of dhurrine0
- Direction
- exceedede0
- Qualifier
- ≥12.5 mM NaCle0
- Comparator
- safe threshold for cattlee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Foliar concentrations of dhurrin positively correlated with salinity and exceeded the safe threshold for cattle of ≥12.5 mM NaCl”
t0“forage sorghum”
Claim · model-written summary
Drought reduced growth compared with 50 mM NaCl irrigation.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“significant reductions in growth and photosynthesis in the drought treatment compared to the 50 mM NaCl treatment”
t0“forage sorghum”
Claim · model-written summary
Drought reduced photosynthesis compared with 50 mM NaCl irrigation.
- Treatment
- drought treatmente0
- Outcome
- photosynthesise0
- Direction
- reductionse0
- Comparator
- 50 mM NaCl treatmente0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“significant reductions in growth and photosynthesis in the drought treatment compared to the 50 mM NaCl treatment”
t0“forage sorghum”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend monitoring cyanogenic glucosides under saline irrigation for grazing safety.
- Outcome
- cyanogenic glucoside concentrations should be monitorede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“its cyanogenic glucoside concentrations should be monitored to ensure safety for grazing animals”
t0“forage sorghum”
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