Not available – first paragraph follows: Salt stress inhibits growth throughout the plant life cycle, but seed germination is generally the most sensitive stage. Salt stress mimics water stress in many ways, leading to the suggestion that the principal effect of salt is osmotic. However, since some salts are more inhibitory than others, specific toxic effects must also be involved. Although sodium chloride is among the less toxic salts, it is one of the most common and thus one of the most troublesome to agriculture.

Funding for this work was provided by the Kearney Foundation of Soil Science.