Impact of Saline Water on Some Ions Uptake and Yield of Wheat Genotypes and Soil Salt Accumulation

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study the soil electrical conductivity, tissue Na+ and K+ concentration, and K+/Na+ ratios in wheat were investigated under nine treatments including three levels of saltwater (0, 75, and 150 mM) (S1, S2 and S3) and three wheat genotypes that arranged using a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications. The maximum soil Na+ was observed in S3 at the harvest time by 1214.41 mg/l that had a significant difference compared to other salt treatments. SAR was changed significantly under different water salinity from 0.47 to 17.7 and there was soil sodification in high salt level and the highest correlation between SAR and ECe was observed (SAR = 3.3134ECe0.8981, R2 = 0.896). By increasing the salinity, shoot Na+ concentration increased and shoot K+ and K+/Na+ ratio decreased. Shoot Na+ was more in salt-tolerant cultivar (Arg) than Tajan and Baharan and there was no relationship between Na+ exclusion and salt tolerance in cultivars. Shoot K+/Na+ showed the most reaction to salinity and no significant differences observed between cultivars under salinity conditions. The results suggested that Na+ exclusion does not always confer salt tolerance and it seems breeding for salt tolerance needs to select for traits related to both Na+ exclusion and other physiological responses, most likely those associated with tissue tolerant.