US-Pakistan Cooperative Research: Ecophysiology of Coastal Halophytes of Pakistan

描述：该奖项是为了支持雅典俄亥俄州大学的欧文恩加尔博士和M。巴基斯坦卡拉奇大学植物系的Ajmal Khan说。 两人将进行研究，以比较盐生植物、叶多肉植物（Suaeda fruticosa）、茎多肉植物（Haloxylon recurvum）和草（Halopyrum mucronatum）在其生命周期的不同阶段在实地和实验室条件下对不同程度的盐度和干旱的反应。 研究内容包括种子萌发、定植、生长、繁殖、植物与土壤的关系、组织与土壤离子含量的变化、渗透关系、耐盐耐旱机理等，以确定植物的耐盐极限及其在田间条件下的生态响应。 盐和干旱对发芽和生长的不同影响将在整个生长季节进行。 将研究耐盐性的生理标记，以便可以培育获得这种特性的植物。 适用范围：这一项目将涉及两名科学家，他们过去曾一起努力解决世界上许多较贫穷国家的一个更紧迫的生态问题，即资源不断减少、淡水供应减少以及土壤含盐量增加。 他们计划通过对巴基斯坦盐生植物的研究来增加我们对耐盐植物的生态学和生理学的了解。 巴基斯坦特别适合这项研究，因为它有一个大的海岸线毗邻大红树林，有许多品种的耐盐植物，在几个地区。 海岸线的其余部分与广阔的沙漠相邻。 这两位科学家拥有互补的技能和设施，他们的研究将通过这种合作得到加强。 该提案符合INT支持美国与外国在互利领域合作的目标。 该项目是与综合生物学和神经科学部联合资助的。

Description: This award is for support of a cooperative project by Dr. Irwin Ungar of Ohio University in Athens, and Dr. M. Ajmal Khan, Department of Botany at the University of Karachi in Pakistan. The two will conduct research to study the comparative response of halophytes, the leaf succulent (Suaeda fruticosa), stem succulent (Haloxylon recurvum) and the grass (Halopyrum mucronatum) to various levels of salinity and drought under field and laboratory conditions at different stages of their life cycle. Investigations will be carried out on the germination, establishment, growth, reproduction, plant and soil relationship, variation in the ion content of tissue and soil, osmotic relations, and mechanism of salt and drought tolerance to determine the tolerance limit of species and their ecological responses under field conditions. The differential effect of salinity and drought on germination and growth will be followed throughout the growth season. Physiological markers of salt tolerance will be investigated so that plants can be bred to acquire such characteristics. Scope: This project will involve two scientists who had worked together in the past in an effort to address one of the more pressing ecological problems in many of the world's poorer countries, namely the ever-decreasing resources and the dwindling fresh water supplies as well as the increasing salinity of soils. They plan to increase our knowledge of the ecology and physiology of salt-tolerant plants through the study of halophytes of Pakistan. Pakistan is particularly suitable for this research because it has a large coastal line adjacent to large mangroves, with many varieties of salt tolerant plants, in several areas. The rest of the coastline is adjacent to vast deserts. The two scientists possess complementary skills and facilities, and their research would be enhanced through this collaboration. This proposal meets the INT objective of supporting US-foreign collaboration in areas of mutual benefit. This project is jointly funded with the Division of Integrative Biology and Neuroscience.