Determination of Germination Biology of Some Sage (Salvia ssp.) Species Under Salinity Stress

Abstract

Soil salinity is one of the most important abiotic stress factors affecting agricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid regions. Salinity negatively affects the soil as well as causes negativity in the plants grown on it. In plants exposed to salt stress, processes such as germination, emergence and sprout are affected, as well as many morphological and physiological negativities and the plant develops mechanisms that can tolerate these negativities. In addition, such plants gain importance in terms of the evaluation of soils with salinity problems. It is necessary to know and make use of the species and varieties that can make use of such soils in conditions where salinity removal is difficult and uneconomical for different reasons. Lamiaceae (Labiatae) family grows in a wide area and different species of salvia and sideritis genus belonging to this family are known as sage. Stress factors in plants cause the growth and development periods of plants to slow down and their metabolic functions to deteriorate, thus causing death in plants. The response of different plants or even different species of a plant to salt concentrations may be different. Therefore, this research was conducted to determine the effects of salt stress on seed germination in some sage species. Seven different (0, 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 mM) of three sage species (S. nemorosa L., S. verticillata L., S. officinalis L.) salt concentration applied. In the study, germination rate, germination speed, average daily germination, peak value and germination values were examined. When the properties investigated were evaluated, it was determined that the woodland sage species, whose germination rate and germination rate decreased as the salt concentration increased, gave the best results. It was determined that lilac sage type gave the best results for the peak value and germination values where the average daily germination value was obtained from 25 mM salt application in three species.