Physiological parameters of salt tolerance during germination and seedling growth of Sorghum bicolor cultivars of the same subtropical origin

Abstract

Salt-tolerant ecotypes (or cultivars, varieties, etc.) of different plant species have been long known to evolve in nature. In the past few years, plant breeders have made significant achievements regarding salt tolerance in a number of potential crops using artificial selection. The aim of this work was to evaluate and screening of the natural sea water (Red sea) tolerance of 7 Saudi local (Baish, Jazan; 17.388086, 42.524070) cultivars of sorghum (Sorghumbicolor L., Moench; Poaceae) with respect to the performance of some physiological parameters such as germination, shoot and root development which could be recommended to local farmers and plant breeders. The shoot growth of the studied sorghum cultivars were significantly affected by the exposure to sea water. Root growth was different among cultivars even when treated with normal water. The cultivar C3 (mix white and red seeds) was observed as more salt tolerant and cultivar C4 (whitish seeds) was more salt sensitive on the basis of the germination-ability and shoot development. Cultivar C3 was also observed to produce better seeds compared with the other cultivars. Results of this experiment can be useful to the local sorghum growing farmers or as a genetic resource for the development of sorghum cultivars with improved germination under salt stress.