Screening For Salt Tolerance of 12 Turkish Triticale Cultivars during Germination and Early Seedling Stage

Abstract

This investigation was carried out to determine the response of 12 Turkish cultivars to different salt stress levels during the germination and early seedling stages at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University in 2022. In present research, four different sodium chloride treatments (60, 120, 180 and 240 mM) and a control (0 mM) treatment were used. Germination ratio, germination index, mean germination time, root and shoot length, root and shoot fresh weight, root and shoot dry weight and biomass weight parameters were investigated to determine the salt tolerance of triticale cultivars. Cultivars, salt doses and their interactions had significant effects on all examined characteristics. In general, germination parameters and early seedling stage characteristics of the cultivars were adversely affected by increasing salt doses. Yet, it was determined that the responses to increasing salt doses were different among the cultivars. Although Mehmetbey cultivar was undesirably affected by increased salt doses, it was found to be more resistant than the other cultivars. On the other hand, Umranhanim was determined as the most sensitive cultivar to salt stress. After investigating the resistance of Mehmetbey cultivar to salt stress under field conditions, this cultivar can be included into breeding programs or cultivated in fields with salinity problems.