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ResearchArticleSPECIALISSUE:PhysiologyandEcologyofHalophytes—PlantsLivinginSalt-RichEnvironmentsSalicorniaasacropplantintemperateregions:selectionofgeneticallycharacterizedecotypesandoptimizationoftheircultivationconditionsDeveshSingh1,2,AnneK.Buhmann1,TimJ.Flowers3,CharlotteE.Seal4andJuttaPapenbrock1*1InstituteofBotany,LeibnizUniversityHannover,D-30419Hannover,Germany2DepartmentofEnvironmentalSciences—Botany,BaselUniversity,Scho¨nbeinstrasse6,CH-4056Basel,Switzerland3SchoolofLifeSciences,UniversityofSussex,JohnikMaynardSmithBuilding,Falmer,BrightonsBN19QG,UK4SeedConservationDepartment,RoyalBotanicGardensKew,WakehurstPlace,Ardingly,WestSussexRH176TN,UKReceived:12August2014;Accepted:30October2014;Published:10November2014GuestEditor:AdeleMuscoloCitation:SinghD,BuhmannAK,FlowersTJ,SealCE,PapenbrockJ.2014.Salicorniaasacropplantintemperateregions:selectionofgeneticallycharacterizedecotypesandoptimizationoftheircultivationconditions.AoBPLANTS6:plu071;doi:10.1093/aobpla/plu071Abstract.Risingsealevelsandsalinizationofgroundwaterduetoglobalclimatechangeresultinfast-dwindlingsourcesoffreshwater.Therefore,itisimportanttofindalternativestogrowfoodcropsandvegetables.Halophytesarenaturallyevolvedsalt-tolerantplantsthatareadaptedtogrowinenvironmentsthatinhibitthegrowthofmostglyco-phyticcropplantssubstantially.MembersoftheSalicornioideaearepromisingcandidatesforsalineagricultureduetotheirhightolerancetosalinity.OuraimwastodevelopgeneticallycharacterizedlinesofSalicorniaandSarcocorniaforfurtherbreedingandtodetermineoptimalcultivationconditions.Toobtainalargeanddiversegeneticpool,seedswerecollectedfromdifferentcountriesandecologicalconditions.Theexternaltranscribedspacer(ETS)sequenceof62SalicorniaandSarcocorniaaccessionswasanalysed:ETSsequencedatashowedacleardistinctionbetweenthetwogeneraandbetweendifferentSalicorniataxa.However,insomecasestheETSwasnotsufficientlyvariabletoresolvemorphologicallydistinctspecies.Forthedeterminationofoptimalcultivationconditions,experimentsongermination,seedlingestablishmentandgrowthtoaharvestablesizewereperformedusingdifferentaccessionsofSalicorniaspp.Experimentsrevealedthatthepercentagegerminationwasgreatestatlowersalinitiesandwithtemperaturesof20/108C(day/night).Salicorniaspp.producedmoreharvestablebiomassinhydroponicculturethaninsandculture,butthenutrientconcentrationrequiresoptimizationashydroponicallygrownplantsshowedsymptomsofstress.SalicorniaramosissimaproducedmoreharvestablebiomassthanSalicorniadolichostachyainartificialseawatercontaining257mMNaCl.Basedonpreliminarytestsoneaseofcultivation,gaininbiomass,morphologyandtaste,S.dolichostachyawasinvestigatedinmoredetail,andtheoptimalsalinityforseedlingestablishmentwasfoundtobe100mM.HarvestingofS.dolichostachyatwiceinagrowingseasonwassuccessful,buttheintervalbetweentheharvestsneedstobeoptimizedtomaximizebiomassproduction.Keywords:Biomass;ETS;germination;Salicorniaspecies;salinity.*Correspondingauthor’se-mailaddress:Jutta.papenbrock@botanik.uni-hannover.dePublishedbyOxfordUniversityPressonbehalfoftheAnnalsofBotanyCompany.ThisisanOpenAccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense(),whichpermitsunrestrictedreuse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited.AoBPLANTS://aobpla.oxfordjournals.org/DownloadedfromIntroductionTheareaofarablelandundercultivationisdecreasingduetoglobalclimaticchangesthatareresultingfromris-ingsealevelsandsalinizationofgroundwater.Atthesametime,thehumanpopulationoftheworldisincreas-ingsothatterrestrialbiomassproductionisofgreatim-portanceforthedeliveryoffoodandfeedstocks(FAO2011).Thedevelopmentofspecializedsalineagricultureofferinghigh-valueproductsisaseriousalternativetoconventionalagriculturerelyingonnon-salinesoilsandfreshwater.Insalineagriculture,salinewaterisconsid-eredtobearesourceratherthanathreat,thusopeningafurtheropportunityforproducingbiomassandotherbio-products.Ourgoalistofosterthedomesticationandbreedingofsalt-tolerantplants,improvingtheiragri-culturaltraitsanddevelopingtheirpotentialasfoodvar-ieties.Inordertoachievethisgoal,geneticallydefinedlinesofhalophyticspeciesandstandardizedcultivationconditionsneedtobeestablished.Halophytesarebelievedtohavearisenmanytimesinunrelatedplantfamiliesduringtheevolutionofangios-perms(Bennettetal.2013)althoughcurrentlytheycomprise,atmost,2%ofterrestrialplantspecies.How-ever,theyincludeawidediversityofplantformsandhavebeenutilizedasvegetable,forageandoilseedcrops.ThegenusSalicorniaintheAmaranthaceaehasgeneratedsignificantinterestasamulti-purposeplant.Itissuitableforcultivationasavegetableinhighlysalineenvironments(Venturaetal.2010,2011a)andasasourceofvaluablesecondarycompounds(BuhmannandPapenbrock2013b).Salicorniaspeciesaresucculentannualswithex-tremelyreducedleavesandaspike-liketerminalinflor-escence(Scott1977).Thegenus,whichiswidelydispersedinEurasia,NorthAmericaandSouthAfrica,presen