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.
