Ronak Talebi Qormik, Hadi Alipour, Reza Darvishzadeh,
Volume 11, Issue 1 ((Spring and Summer) 2024)
Abstract
Extended abstract
Introduction: The germination stage in plants, including wheat, is an extremely susceptible stage to biotic and abiotic stresses. Plant establishment the in the early stages of growth, especially in the germination stage, is always notably important. Salinity stress is one of the abiotic stresses that cause much damage annually, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. Therefore, identification and use of cultivars tolerant to salinity stress is one of the effective ways to reduce the negative effects of salinity stress.
Materials and Methods: In the present study, response of 64 spring wheat cultivars during the germination stage at two levels of salinity stress (zero as a control and 12 dS/m of sodium chloride) was investigated in the form of a simple lattice design with two replications at the Genetics Laboratory of the Faculty of Agriculture, Urmia University. During seven days, germination percentage, germination index, germination rate, germination energy, seedling vigor, mean germination time, and mean germination rate, and after the seventh day, seedling length, shoot length, root length, ratio of shoot length to root length, seedling fresh weight, and seedling dry weight were measured.
Results: Among the studied cultivars, a statistically significant difference was observed at the probability level of 1% in terms of all traits including radicle length, shoot length, seedling length, fresh weight, dry weight, radicle to shoot length ratio, germination index, germination rate, germination energy, germination percentage, seedling vigor, mean germination time, and mean germination rate. Based on the results of factor analysis, under both normal conditions and salinity stress, the studied traits were grouped into four main factors, and these four factors explained 92.74% of the changes under normal and 93.85% under salinity stress conditions. Using cluster analysis, cultivars were grouped into three and two clusters under normal and salinity stress conditions, respectively.
Conclusions: Based on the results of bi-plot obtained from factor and cluster analyses, the cultivars Moghan 2, Bistun, Akbari, Moghan 3, Dastjardi, Marvdasht, Gahar, and Mahdavi are the preferred cultivars and the cultivars Darya, Bam, Tajan, Sistan, Frontana, Kavir, and Afogh were introduced as undesirable cultivars in terms of the traits measured in this experiment, which can be used in breeding projects.
Keywords: Bread wheat, Germination, Multivariate analysis, Salinity stress
Highlights:
- A great diversity was observed among Iranian spring wheat cultivars in terms of salt tolerance during germination.
- Mahdavi, Dastjardi, Bistun, Akbari, Moghan 2, Moghan 3, Gahar, and Marvdasht were identified as salt-tolerant cultivars during germination.
