Response of nine triticale genotypes to different salt concentrations at the germination and early seedling stages

Ebrahim Ramadan; Haytham A Freeg; Nagwa Shalaby; Mosa S Rizk; Jun Ma; Wenhua Du; Omar M Ibrahim; Khairiah M Alwutayd; Hamada AbdElgawad; Ick-Hyun Jo; Amira M El-Tahan

doi:10.7717/peerj.16256

Response of nine triticale genotypes to different salt concentrations at the germination and early seedling stages

PeerJ. 2023 Dec 21:11:e16256. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16256. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Field Crops Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt, Kafr Elshiekh, Egypt.
² College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University, Gansu, China.
³ Plant Production Department, Arid Lands Cultivation Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications, Borg El Arab, Alexandria, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt.
⁶ Department of Crop Science and Biotechnology, Dankook University, Cheonan, Republic of Korea.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Salinity stress poses a major challenge to agricultural productivity worldwide, and understanding their responses at the early growth stage is vital for devising strategies to cope with this stress. Therefore, to improve triticale productivity, this study investigated the salinity stress tolerance of different salt-tolerant triticale genotypes aiming to cultivate them on saline soils. To this end, salinity stress impacts on nine triticale genotypes, i.e., Zhongsi 1084, Gannong No. 2, Gannong No. 4, Shida No. 1, C6, C16, C23, C25 and C36 at germination and early seedling stages was evaluated. Each genotype was subjected to six treatments inducing control, 40, 80, 120, 160, and 200 mM NaCl treatments to study their effect on seedling and termination traits of the nine genotypes. Compared to the overall mean seedling vigor index, the seedling vigor index was higher in the genotypes Zhongsi 1084 and C6 (39% and 18.1%, respectively) and lower in Gannong No.2 (41%). Increasing NaCl concentrations negatively affected germination and seedling traits. Compared to other genotypes, Zhongsi 1084 had the highest mean germination rate, germination vigor index, germination percentage, mean daily germination and germination energy. It also showed the lowest relative salt injury. The relative salt injury was higher in the genotype Shida No. 1 than those in Gannong No. 2, Gannong No. 4, Shida No. 1, C16, and C36 genotypes. All genotypes exhibited desirable mean germination time except for line C6. High significant positive correlations were observed among germination rate, germination vigor index, germination percentage, mean daily germination, seedling vigor index, and root length. Principal component analysis (PCA) grouped the most desirable genotypes into two clusters. Our study determined salt stress tolerance of nine triticale genotypes at germination and early seedling stages. to select salt-tolerant genotypes that can be cultivated on saline soil or after salt irrigation.

Keywords: Genotypes; Germination rate; Salinity; Seedling stage; Seedling vigor index; Triticale.

MeSH terms

Genotype
Germination / genetics
Seedlings* / genetics
Sodium Chloride / pharmacology
Soil
Triticale*

Substances

Sodium Chloride
Soil

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2024R402), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.