Na and Cl induce differential physiological, biochemical responses and metabolite modulations in vitro in contrasting salt-tolerant soybean genotypes.

Chloride and sodium constitute as the major ions in most saline soils, contributing to salt-induced damage in plants. Research on salt tolerance has mostly concentrated on the sodium toxicity; however, chloride toxicity also needs to be considered to understand the physiological, biochemical, and metabolite changes under individual and additive salts. In this study, we investigated the effect of individual Na and/or Cl ions (equimolar 100 mM NaCl, Na and Cl salts) using in vitro cultures of four soybean genotypes with contrasting salt tolerance.