Effect of Zinc application under conditions of salt stress on germination and growth in vitro of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.)

Abstract

The arid and semi-arid soils represent one third of the earth's surface. In these areas, soil salinity and irrigation water is one of the factors limiting plant productivity and crop yields. It is possible to limit the amount taken by the salinization of land and water by alternative means. For this, we proposed to study the effect of a trace element in this case Zinc as ZnSO4 on the evolution of salt stress in a model plant durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.). For this, grains were subjected to different doses of NaCl (0, 25, 50, 75, 100 mM) with 5 levels of Zn (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1 mM ZnSO4). After 14 days of treatment, the results show that the application of Zinc decreased significantly the effect of salinity. Thus, the rate of germination decreased from 75 mM NaCl dose (60.66%) back to (80.33%) in the presence of ZnSO4 and at the concentration of 0.05 mM. Meanwhile these treatments to salt stress induced a reduction in the length of the leaves as well as roots, especially for higher concentrations of NaCl. The presence of ZnSO4 seems to reduce the effect of salt stress.