Abstract—During the present study four halophytes: Suaeda fruticosa Forsk, Atriplex leucoclada Boiss, Haloxylon salicornicum (Moq.), Salicornica verginica. L along with their rhizospheric soil were collected from different locations of District Mardan. Electrical conductivity of rhizospheric soil was 4.2dS/m and pH: 8.3-9.3. Haloxylon salicornicum had highest concentration of K ⁺ , Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions in its leaves as  compared to other 3 selected halophytes, whereas Fe  ⁺²  , Cu ⁺³ , Zn⁺² and h eavy metals like Co ⁺³  and Ni⁺³ were highe  r in Atriplex leucoclada. Significantly lower production of protein, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents were observed in plants collected from saline areas of District Mardan. Atriplex leucoclada possessed higher chlorophyll a/b ratio and protein content. The Salicornica verginica and Haloxylon salicornicum appear to use sugar as osmolyte while proline was found significantly higher in Suaeda fruticosa and Atriplex leucoclada. The production of abscisic acid (ABA) was significantly higher as compared to indole acetic acid (IAA) in all the selected plants. Atriplex leucoclada Suaeda fruticosa and Salicornica verginica possessed higher concentration of ABA. It is inferred that halophytes differ in their adaptability and use different compound as osmoprotectant. Na ⁺ /K⁺ ratio considered an index of salt tolerance and correlation present between Na ⁺ /K⁺, ABA/IAA ratio and proline content. Among the selected halophytes   Atriplex leucoclada have maximum ABA/IAA ratio as well as higher Na ⁺ /K⁺ ratio and higher proline and protein contents. 

Index Terms—Abscisic acid, Proline, Salinity, Halophytes.

All authors are with the department of plant sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad.

Cite: Samiullah and Asghari Bano, "Physiological and Biochemical Analysis of the Selected Halophytes of District Mardan, Pakistan," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 239-243, 2011.