The adaptation of a halophyte, Suaeda japonica, in a saline environment was surveyed by analysing the cellular components, such as the major inorganic and organic constituents, as well as glycine betaine between halophytic and non-halophytic plants grown along the seashore of Ariake Sea. In contrast to non-halophytes, a remarkable accumulation of salt in leaf cells of halophytes, Suaeda and Artemisia, was accompanied by the accumulation of a compatible solute, glycine betaine. In a culture experiment under saline conditions, glycine betaine looked to be most effectively induced in the concentration of salt of around 250 mM NaCl.
