%0 Journal Article %T Interactive Effect of Temperature and Water Stress Induced by Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) on Germination and Recovery of Two Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Cultivars %A Atif Hassan Naim %A Faisal El Gasim Ahmed %J Open Access Library Journal %V 2 %N 10 %P 1-7 %@ 2333-9721 %D 2015 %I Open Access Library %R 10.4236/oalib.1102005 %X Effects of different temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25 and 35) and various water potentials (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, 1.5 MPa) on seed germination and early seedling development of two contrasting chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) cultivars were studied. Different temperatures were applied in an incubator by adjusting the device according to the specific treatments. Water potential treatments were done by using different concentrations of polyethylene glycol (PEG), 8000 (molecular weight). The results showed significant differences between the two cultivars in all characters studied. The cultivar Arman exhibited the higher germination percentage and rate than the cultivar Pirooz. Water stress caused significant reductions in germination parameters at unfavorable temperatures (10, 30, and 35). Seeds of both cultivars, which are subjected to high osmotic potentials, had high recovery percentages at the optimum temperature (25). In conclusion, the cultivar Arman seems to be more tolerant to water stress at suboptimal and super optimal temperatures compared with Pirooz. %K Chickpea %K Cicer arietinum %K Germination %K PEG %K Temperature %K Water Stress %U http://www.oalib.com/paper/3151129