Variation in Germination and Ion Uptake in Barley Genotypes under Salinity Conditions

In this paper twelve barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes were screened for salt tolerance during seed germination in the Crop Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan. To evaluate salt tolerance during germination, 30 seeds of each genotype were placed on towel paper in 9 cm Petri dishes containing 20 mL distilled water or 1:1 M ratio NaCl and CaCl2 solutions at various concentrations [(control), 100, 200, 300 mM] to give electrical conductivities (EC) of 0.05 (control), 10.6, 19.0 and 27.0 dS m 1, respectively. Our data indicated that salinity level × genotype interaction effects (p<0.05) were observed for seed germination percentage, seed viability and ion uptake. Seed germination decreased significantly by increasing salinity level. Germination was significantly diminished at the highest level of salt (300 mM) with significant variation among genotypes and the genotype ACSAD1430 had higher germination percentage than other tested genotypes. Results presented in this article also indicated that the increasing seed pretreatment duration by hyper-saline medium significantly reduced seed recovery when transferred to distilled water. Also our data indicated that the increasing seed pretreatment duration by hyper-saline medium significantly reduced seed recovery when transferred to distilled water. The Na concentration of seeds after imbibitions significantly increased with increasing salinity with a considerable variation among genotypes. K concentration also affected by salinity. Generally, increasing salt stress significantly decreased K concentration in barley seeds after one day of imbibitions. The present study indicated that salt stress must be removed from soil surface for successful seedling establishment.