Response to Sodium Chloride Stress at Germination and Seedling and Identification of Salinity Tolerant Genotypes in Foxtail Millet Landraces Originated from China

Abstract

One hundred and ninety-four Chinese foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] landraces were screened at germina-tion and seedling stages for salinity tolerance with 150 or 250 mmol L-1 NaCl treatments. On the basis of relative seed germina-tion rate (RSG), relative shoot length (RSL), and relative root length (RRL), the landraces Honggu, Xiaohuanggu, and Sanbian-chou, were identified to be the most salt-tolerant while Yegu 5 and Yanggu sensitive to salt stress. Correlation analysis indicated that RSG was not closely correlated with relative plant height (RPH) and relative leaf area (RLA) of the first true leaf at seedling stage. However, Yegu 5 and Yanggu with poor salinity tolerance at germination stage were also sensitive to salt stress at seedling stage. The RPH of Honggu, Xiaohuanggu, and Sanbianchou, were smaller than those of Yegu 5 and Yanggu. Under high concen-trations of NaCl, the RLA of Xiaohuanggu was smaller than that of other landraces.