Table 2.

Effects of salt stress on ion levels in the shoots and roots of cultivars Parthenon and Naxos treated with different concentrations of NaCl for 15 days. Values are means ± standard errors (n = 5). Means followed by different letters are significantly different according to Tukey's test at P < 0.05. The significance of the difference between the two cultivars is given according to the Student's t-test, with ^∗ P < 0.05, ^∗∗ P < 0.01, ^∗∗∗ P < 0.001; n.s: non-significant.

Plant part	Cultivar	NaCl (mM)	Cations (mmol kg DW−1)				Anions (mmol kg DW−1)
			Na+	K+	Ca2+	Mg2+	Cl−	NO3 −	PO4 3−	SO4 2−
Shoots
	Parthenon	0	4 ± 0.15 a	1292 ± 19.81 a	902 ± 14.50 a	143 ± 4.08 a	11.61 ± 0.69 a	86.32 ± 1.17 a	5.05 ± 0.33 a	14.39 ± 0.29 b
		30	901 ± 25.13 b	920 ± 11.26 b	727 ± 11.20 b	121 ± 2.12 b	58.58 ± 3.62 b	74.56 ± 1.28 b	6.51 ± 0.06 b	16.18 ± 0.38 c
		60	1438 ± 16.94 c	663 ± 21.41 c	645 ± 11.29 c	109 ± 1.81 b	84.64 ± 4.11 c	60.67 ± 0.42 c	6.53 ± 0.12 b	14.05 ± 0.06 b
		90	1878 ± 73.24 d	540 ± 20.86 d	588 ± 26.16 c	112 ± 5.30 b	145.26 ± 10.90 d	48.44 ± 3.40 d	6.34 ± 0.34 b	10.43 ± 0.51 a
	Naxos	0	19 ± 2.53 a	1290 ± 32.74 a	884 ± 11.51 a	159 ± 2.28 a	10.38 ± 0.67 a	76.22 ± 5.01 a	2.84 ± 0.65 a	12.56 ± 0.74 a
		30	1023 ± 50.65 b	795 ± 17.81 b	743 ± 6.21 b	139 ± 1.74 b	48.05 ± 6.37 b	57.21 ± 1.90 b	4.37 ± 0.20 b	11.66 ± 0.47 a
		60	1536 ± 43.54 c	669 ± 8.10 c	696 ± 12.00 c	140 ± 2.46 b	68.37 ± 2.03 c	50.47 ± 3.90 bc	5.07 ± 0.22 b	11.27 ± 0.08 ab
		90	2120 ± 86.19 d	546 ± 25.90 d	557 ± 10.08 d	128 ± 1.61 c	154.83 ± 5.64 d	43.46 ± 1.17 c	5.08 ± 0.19 b	9.23 ± 0.80 b
		0	∗∗	n.s.	n.s.	∗	n.s.	n.s.	∗	n.s.
	Significance between the two	30	n.s.	∗∗∗	n.s.	∗∗∗	n.s.	∗∗∗	∗∗∗	∗∗∗
	cultivars for the shoot ion composition	60	n.s.	n.s.	∗	∗∗∗	∗∗	n.s.	∗∗	∗∗∗
		90	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	∗	n.s.	n.s.	∗	n.s.
Roots
	Parthenon	0	8 ± 1.10 a	1295 ± 79.35 a	255 ± 26.65 a	99 ± 6.96 a	6.75 ± 2.01 a	48.72 ± 4.73 a	9.75 ± 0.15 a	6.45 ± 0.28 a
		30	388 ± 31.49 b	995 ± 77.89 b	144 ± 17.33 b	85 ± 5.86 a	31.55 ± 1.35 b	28.98 ± 2.47 b	5.93 ± 0.17 b	5.14 ± 0.25 b
		60	592 ± 32.52 c	919 ± 60.36 b	94 ± 2.41 b	88 ± 4.19 a	44.42 ± 2.44 c	19.95 ± 1.07 bc	6.09 ± 0.17 b	4.95 ± 0.21 b
		90	786 ± 35.21 d	756 ± 60.72 b	88 ± 3.36 b	84 ± 3.93 a	61.73 ± 2.63 d	14.90 ± 3.00 c	5.60 ± 0.40 b	4.62 ± 0.38 b
	Naxos	0	26 ± 2.09 a	1376 ± 10.07 a	253 ± 43.70 a	96 ± 2.80 a	7.72 ± 2.44 a	31.44 ± 4.06 a	6.67 ± 0.30 a	5.18 ± 0.21 a
		30	418 ± 18.45 b	1162 ± 25.48 b	176 ± 24.39 ab	96 ± 1.29 a	42.74 ± 2.57 b	23.13 ± 1.64 ab	5.93 ± 0.25 a	4.50 ± 0.14 a
		60	616 ± 30.70 c	1055 ± 51.20 bc	111 ± 3.19 b	95 ± 4.51 a	47.75 ± 3.89 b	22.22 ± 1.50 ab	5.50 ± 0.29 a	4.51 ± 0.12 a
		90	881 ± 38.22 d	991 ± 24.82 c	98 ± 7.80 b	105 ± 2.49 a	66.26 ± 3.52 c	17.59 ± 2.26 b	4.69 ± 0.85 a	3.38 ± 0.45 b
		0	∗∗∗	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	∗	∗∗∗	∗∗
	Significance between the two	30	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	∗∗	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
	cultivars for the root ion composition	60	n.s.	n.s.	∗∗	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.
		90	n.s.	∗	n.s.	∗∗∗	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.	n.s.