SALT STRESS RESPONSES DURING GERMINATION
AND EARLY SEEDLING GROWTH
Georgeta Ciobanu, Cristina Babeanu
KEY WORDS: salinity, germination, amylases, soluble sugars, proline
ABSTRACT
Salinity affects plant growth and development in many ways: osmotic stress, injurious effect of toxic Na+ and Cl- ions and nutrient imbalance. As a consequence, plant response to salt stress is a multigenic trait. Our data have shown that moderate salt stress only delayed germination of wheat caryopses, whereas the highest concentration of NaCl reduced final germination percentages. Salt supply also brought about a reduction in seedling growth, a diminished release of reducing sugar and amylase activity as well. Incresed activities of catalase and peroxidase indcated oxydative stress conditions in plants. As an adaptive response, young plants accumulated large quantities of proline in the aerial parts. Understanding the molecular alphabets of salt stress tolerance will provide plant breeders a new tool for selecting cultivars with improved qualities