%0 Journal Article
%T Interaction of Salinity and Temperature on the Germination of Doum (Hyphaene thebaica) Seed in Saudi Arabia
%A Yusef Saleh Siraj Ali
%J Asian Journal of Plant Sciences
%D 2007
%I 
%X A greenhouse experiment evaluated the effect of water salinity (electrical conductivity of 0.03, 12.0, 24.0 and 36.0 dS m-1) and temperature (15, 25, 30 and 35ˇăC) on the germination of Doum (Hyphaene thebaica) seed over 2 weeks period. Treatment solutions were prepared using NaCl and CaCl2 in 2:1 molar ratio. Germination declined with increasing salinity at each counting date and salinity x temperature interactions were highly significant. Germination was severely limited at 15ˇăC having only 18% germination in the control treatment (0.03 dS m-1). The temperature for optimum germination ranged between 25-35ˇăC for all salinity treatments. The final cumulative germination percentage was highest at 25ˇăC in most of the water salinity treatments. However, percent germination showed decreases on either side (25 and 35ˇăC) of the optimum temperature range. The germination rate reduced drastically at 15ˇăC in all water salinity treatments, with intermediate effect at 25 and 35ˇăC at the lower salinity level, while decreasing with increasing salinity at all temperature. Overall the trend for the effect of temperature on reduction in germination rate index in different water salinity treatments in descending order is 15 > 45 >35 > 25ˇăC. The results suggested that Doum seed is moderate to high tolerant to salinity stress during germination with temperature ranging between 25-35ˇăC.
%K Doum seed
%K germination
%K salinity levels
%K temperature
%K interaction
%U http://docsdrive.com/pdfs/ansinet/ajps/2007/962-966.pdf