Study on Germination of Seven Barley Cultivars (Hordeum vulgare L.) under Salt Stress

Abstract

The present work aims to study the germination behavior of seven Tunisian varieties of barley (Kounouz, Faiz, Roho, Manel, Lemsi, Rihane and Tej) during germination without or with NaCl. These varieties have been chosen in order to have the greatest possible diversity on the agro-physiologic level and to select tolerant plants to salinity. Barley grains are germinated (in Petri dishes lined with a double layer of filter paper soaked) in a solution of NaCl 0, 50, 100, 150, 200 mM for 7days. Two germination criteria were studied: the radicle breaching and the coleoptile's emergence. The measured parameters were the kinetics, the germination rate, the final germination and the GSI (Germination Stress Index). The results showed that, daily germination decreased significantly under NaCl. If we consider the two germination criteria, salt exerts a depressive effect on seed germination capacity of barley and slows germination speed. There is also an important intra-specific variability opposite of salinity. The studied barley varieties were classified in descending order of salt tolerance as following: Roho > Faiz > Kounouz > Manel > Rihane > Lemsi > Tej.

Preliminary screening of domestic barley and wild barley genotypes for salt tolerance

“…The significant variations among the genotypes and genotypes × salinity interaction under four salinity levels indicate that there was a high genetic variation among the screened genotypes. Previous studies have also reported highly significant differences among genotypes and genotypes × salinity interaction for different traits such as germination, root, and shoot length (Abdi et al, 2016;Angessa et al, 2017;El Goumi et al, 2014;Tavili & Biniaz, 2009). Generally, mean root length decreased as the level of NaCl increased for all genotypes (Table 3).…”

“…Previous studies have also reported that there were significant variations in salt tolerance among barley genotypes at the germination stage (Kook et al, 2009;Tajbakhsh et al, 2006). Seed germination under salinity is reduced due to osmotic stress, and high levels of NaCl reduced the bioavailability of water caused by Na + , resulting in what is effectively an osmotically induced water deficiency (Abdi et al, 2016;Mano et al, 1996;Parida & Das 2005). Additionally, Na + displayed toxic effects on the germinating embryos (Mazher et al, 2007).…”

“…In addition, the domestic barley genotypes were more susceptible to salinity than bulbous barley. Abdi et al (2016) reported that coleoptile's emergence of barley cultivars showed greater sensitivity to salinity than radicle's emergence. According to keys described by Mano & Takeda (1998), salt tolerance of genotypes at germination was scored on a binary rating scale of 1-2 (Table 6).…”

“…In plant breeding programs, there is a need to screen genotypes for salt tolerance at germination and seedling growth stages to identify genotypes with salt stress tolerance (Mano & Takeda, 1998). Also, genotypes can be screened for salt tolerance by using different phenotypic parameters such as germination percentage, radicle length, coleoptile length, relative water content, and fresh and dry weight of roots and shoots (Abdi et al, 2016;Abu-El-lail et al, 2014;Adjel et al, 2013;Angessa et al, 2017;Chikha et al, 2016;El Goumi et al, 2014;Sbei et al, 2014;Shahraki & Fakheri, 2016;…”

Evaluating salinity tolerance in progeny of domestic and wild barley crosses at germination stage

“…Corrected germination percentage (CG%) was used to identify physiological effects of salinity on seed germination (Abdi et al., 2016). It was calculated by using the formula of Smith and Dobrenz (1987): where N x is the germination percentage in x mM salinity treatment, and N o is the germination percentage in the control treatment.…”