Abstract
Considering the importance of salinity stress and genotype screening under stress conditions, the current study evaluated faba bean genotypes in response to saline stress and identified those that were tolerant and determined the influential ratio of each yield component on seed yield under both conditions. As a result, 12 faba bean genotypes were tested under 2 levels of salt stress (100 mM and 200 mM) and a control. The study was analyzed with multivariate (descriptive, ANOVA, PCA, biplot, cluster analysis, and indices) analysis techniques to determine the tolerance level of each genotype. Similarly, the cluster analysis results reported that faba bean genotypes were divided into two groups under the control and 100 mM salinity levels; however, the 200 mM salinity level recorded three groups of faba bean genotypes, showing that salinity stress may limit phenotypic variability among faba bean genotypes. The descriptive analysis results showed a wide range of diversity among the studied characteristics under control and salinity stress conditions. The number of seeds/plants recorded a significant association with plant height (cm) (PH), stomatal conductance (SC), days to flowering (DF), the number of pods, and seed weight (g) (SW); however, an insignificant association was recorded with leaf temperature (LT), fresh weight (g) (FW), Na+, K+, and Na/K ratio. The first three principal components (PCs) represent 81.45% of the variance among the studied traits. The most significant characteristics that contributed the most to the diversity were (PH, leaf area, SPAD reading, stomatal conductance, DF, number of pods/plants, number of seeds/pods, SW, K, and total chlorophyll content); however, the significant genotypes (Hassawi-2, Sakha, ILB-4347, Misr-3, FLIP12501FB) were present in PC1 under both conditions. The results predicted that Hassawi-2, ILB-4347, Sakha, Misr-3, and Flip12501FB were the significant (tolerant) genotypes. However, FLIP12504FB represents a sensitive genotype based on its final grain yield. The results of the indices also recorded significant index correlations with grain yield, demonstrating that these indices are effective tools for screening faba bean-tolerant genotypes under salinity stress conditions.
Highlights
Soil salinization is one of the most critical abiotic stressors that impacts crop yields globally; salinity threatens roughly 6% of the world’s total land area, including 20% of arable land and 33% of irrigated land [1]
The study confirms the significance of the studied traits, salinity index, and their association to determine the salinity tolerance of each genotype
Hassawi-2, ILB-4347, Sakha, Misr-3, and Flip12501FB, showed significant tolerance levels; FLIP12504FB represents a sensitive genotype based on its final grain yield
Summary
Soil salinization is one of the most critical abiotic stressors that impacts crop yields globally; salinity threatens roughly 6% of the world’s total land area, including 20% of arable land and 33% of irrigated land [1]. Faba bean is one of the oldest crops in the world and its cultivation dates back to the Mediterranean region [4]. 4.7 million tons of grain legume crop were produced over 3.4 million hectares [5]. Despite its age and commercial importance, the fact is that faba bean is a diploid species (2n = 12), and modest progress has been made in developing an excellent genetic understanding of this crop. Faba bean has an exceptionally large genome of approximately 13.4 Gb [6], and it considered to be the largest genome in the grain legume family. Vicia faba L. is a cool-season legume crop and produces high-protein grains for human production and livestock in developing regions [7,8]. Because of the increasing demand for faba bean consumption in the middle east, there is a need to develop faba bean genotypes that are suitable for arid and semiarid regions [8]
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