Effect of Salt Concentration on Three Cultivars of Gerbera jamesonii

Abstract

The research was carried out in the laboratory for plant tissue culture, Department of Horticulture and Landscape Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Baghdad, in 2021. First, Four Explants (seeds, roots, shoot-tips, and clumps), which were laboratory germinated from seeds of Gerbera jamesonii cultivars (red, white, and orange), were cultured after sterilizing with five concentrations (0, 10, 20, 30, and 50%) of bleach containing 6 % of sodium hypochlorite NaOCl to investigate the best concentration of the bleach, as well as the best Explant to be used for multiplication. Second, according to the results of the sterilization experiment, shoot tips were cultured in media containing the growth regulators NAA at four concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5ppm) and BA at four concentrations (0, 1, 2, and 3 ppm) to find the best combination for obtaining the best result. The treatment BA3 NAA0.5 was superior, producing the highest number of leaves (37.2, 36.9, and 28.1) in the three cultivars (red, white, and orange, respectively). Third, four salt concentrations (0, 50, 100, and 150 mM) of NaCl were added to the culture media to investigate the plant salt tolerance. Results showed a decline in the number of leaves, as well as the weight of both fresh and dry leaves, affected by the salt concentration increase of all the three studied cultivars; however, the white cultivar was superior in tolerating salt compared to the other two cultivars.