Salinity Tolerance Ranking Of Various Wheat Landraces From The West Of The Urmia Saline Lake In Iran By Using Physiological Parameters

In recent years, considerable interest has been focused on the use of physiological parameters as selection criteria in salt tolerance ranking. Eighteen bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) landraces from the west area of the Urmia Saline Lake were grown in a greenhouse in the Department of Plant Biology and Halophytes Biotechnology Center, Azarbaijan University of Tarbiyat Moallem, Tabriz, Iran to study the effects of increasing levels of sodium chloride (NaCl) (control, 75, and 150 mM) on the plant leaves. The experimental design was factorial with a randomized complete block with three replications. The results showed salinity caused an obvious decrease in growth of all landraces. Physiological parameters such as lipid peroxidation, hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) content, and cell membrane injury increased with increasing salinity levels with different degrees among the landraces. Salt stress increased the sodium (Na⁺) accumulation coupled with a decrease in leaf potassium (K⁺) depending on salinity levels. The analysis of variance showed significant effects of salinity, landraces and their interactions in all studied parameters. The landraces were ranked for salt tolerance indexes, and cluster group ranking ordered landraces from tolerant to sensitive and their properties for salt stress tolerance are open for further research.