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Soil affected by salt (NaCl) is a major problem worldwide and in areas with potential agriculture; lands in many countries are not enough to support crop production. The development of salt tolerant cultivars would be enhanced by better understanding of the genetic control of tolerance to salt stress. A new cereal, tritipyrum, a range of amphiploids between Triticum spp. and Thinopyrum spp. offers such a new chance. Those with the 6x construction (2n=6x=42, AABBEbEb) derived from Triticum durum (2n=4x=28, AABB) and Thinopyrum bessarabicum (2n=2x=14, EbEb) are of the potential to become a new high salt tolerant cereal crop. Tritipyrum is prone to problems similar to those exhibited by early triticales, e.g. chromosome instability and low fertility, which in that crop were eventually overcome by breeding. Other problems could be overcome through substitution of Eb genome chromosomes by D genome ones, and the feasibility of this has been assessed in the progenies of (6x tritipyrum) x (6x wheat) hybrids with the aid of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). The cytological, morphological and agronomic studies of existing tritipyrum lines, including the effect of vernalization, were carried out, too. A novel multiple- pistil/seed characteristic of one original tritipyrum line has also been investigated and its genetic basis established. The results have shown that, first creation of substituted lines is feasible, and thus it could be a route for the elimination of undesirable traits. Second, improvement should be possible via selection for chromosomally stable lines, with increased fertility and yield. Third, it may also be possible to exploit the perennial habit and multi-tillering traits in a dual-purpose forage/grain crop. Fourth, the multiple-pistil/seed trait may be controlled by two recessive genes. Fifth, there is a high probability of having established the seven possible monosomic additions of Th. bessarabicum to T.durum for the first time.

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The short arm of rye (Secale cereale L.) chromosome 1 (1RS), besides being part of the rye genome, is present in many hundred wheat cultivars as either 1RS.1BL or 1RS.1DL wheat-rye translocation. In this study, the distribution of the wheat–rye translocation was examined in 33 Iranian winter and spring wheat cultivars, nine of which had a known donor of 1RS.1BL translocation and the other 24 were randomly selected cultivars without a known source of 1RS.1BL in their pedigree. The presence of the translocation was verified in 4 cultivars, using genomic in situ hybridization analysis. We also compared the Na+ exclusion and K+/Na+ ratios in leaf and root of the identified 1RS.1BL translocations and in eight randomly selected non-translocated (NT) control cultivars grown in hydroponic solutions, containing 0 and 200 mM NaCl. Mean comparisons showed that the 1RS.1BL cultivars (Atrak, Dez, Falat, Rasul) had significantly lower rates of whole plant dry weight and root dry weight in the presence of 200 mM NaCl compared with NT control cultivars. No significant difference was observed between translocated and NT cultivars for Na+ concentrations and K+/Na+ ratios in their leaves or roots. Although, there are many useful genes in 1RS arm, it has no substantial contribution to Na+ exclusion in comparison with NT controls at seedling stage.

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In order to assess the effect of salinity constraint on some agro-physiological and biochemical traits in Medicago sativa L., four Alfalfa populations (Tafilalet 1, Tafilalet 2, Demnate and Tata), originated from mountains and oasis of Morocco, were tested. The plants were grown under greenhouse conditions in pots filled with sand and peat under three salt treatments (0, 100 and 200 mM NaCl). Thereafter, plants were harvested 45 days after salt treatment and some agro-physiological and biochemical parameters related to salt tolerance, such as plant biomass, water content, membrane permeability, nutrients contents, nitrate reductase and acid phosphatase activities, were measured. Results showed that increase in NaCl concentration gradually reduced plant biomass, which displayed significant differences among the tested populations. Thus, Tata population appeared to be the most tolerant population to salinity, Tafilalet 1 population was the least tolerant one, while Tafilalet 2 and Demnate displayed moderate salinity tolerance. Variations in plant growth were associated with changes in physiological and biochemical parameters. Indeed, salinity caused a decrease in relative water content, perturbation of membrane permeability, and nutrients concentrations. Results also showed that salinity inhibited nitrate reductase activity in leaves of all tested populations, but acid phosphatase activity was increased in both leaves and roots of stressed plants. Salt tolerance of alfalfa populations was associated with high inorganic ion accumulation and the maintenance of membrane integrity and an adequate level in terms of nitrate reductase and acid phosphatase activities.

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Zinc has previously been reported to alleviate salinity stress in plants. In this study, we monitored various biomass and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters to determine the optimum zinc sulfate concentration that can be used as foliar spray to alleviate salinity stress in Glycine soja. The plants subjected to a series of salinity levels (NaCl concentration of 0, 100, 200, and 300 mmol L^-1), applied via the nutrient solution, were sprayed with different concentrations of zinc sulfate (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 µmol L^-1). The results showed that the biomass and chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of seedlings were significantly affected by salt stress (P < 0.05). However, zinc sulfate sprays helped the plants to cope with the stress condition. The zinc sulfate concentrations that helped G. soja to cope with the salinity stress of 100, 200, and 300 mmol L^-1 were 15 to 20, 15 to 20, and 10 to 20 µmol L^-1, respectively. Lower zinc concentration was ineffective in alleviating stress and higher zinc concentration inhibited plant growth because of toxicological damage to plants. The zinc sulfate spray of 15 µmol L^-1 was found to be the most appropriate at all salinity stress levels. The growth measurements such as true leaves part and dry weight of total seedlings were in agreement with the chlorophyll fluorescence parameters, indicating a visible enhancement of leaf photosynthetic activity at 10-20 µmol L^-1 zinc concentrations.

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Screening methods that are effective in the early stage of growth will potentially provide the largest quantity of breeding material. Although various screening methods under greenhouse have been proposed, potential effective approaches must be described a good correlation with results under field conditions. This study was aimed to assess the correlations between traits obtained from four salt screening methods, hydroponic culture, soil culture, pot and field methods. Salt injury scores from the soil culture and hydroponic methods at the seedling stage under salinity of 12 dS m^-1, were not correlated, but were able to identify the variety Pokkali as being a tolerant variety, and IR29 as a susceptible variety. Traits in the pot and field experiments were significantly related to the rice varieties and salt salinity levels. The correlations at the seedling stage were found between salt injury score in the soil culture and plant height, proline content of leaves and panicle length in the field experiment (r= -0.886, r= 0.992 and r= -0.933, respectively). Also, traits from the pot experiment showed significant correlations with those from the field experiment. Salt injury scores obtained from soil culture method provide a simple and efficient method for indirect selection for salt tolerance in rice.

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In most semiarid and arid areas, fresh water shortage compels managers to use low quality water sources with high salinity to irrigate turf and landscape. Recent research has noticed that management of nitrogen fertilization can alleviate salinity effects on plants. This greenhouse sand culture experiment was conducted in order to investigate morphological and physiological responses to salinity stress in Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) grown using different nitrogen sources. Three salinity levels (0, 40 and 80 mM NaCl) and three NO₃^-/NH₄⁺ ratios (6/0.5, 6/1 and 6/2) were applied in nutrient solutions. Under non saline conditions, higher ammonium concentration increased Turf Quality (TQ), leaf NO₃^-, proline content, Nitrate Reductase Activity (NRA), shoot and root growth. On the other hand, leaf potassium (K⁺) sodium (Na⁺) and MalonDiAldehyde (MDA) content were not affected. During the first week, the 40 mM NaCl treatment showed that the positive effects of NH₄⁺ on salinity tolerance were still perceptible. However, the 80 mM NaCl treatment showed that the adverse effects of high salinities were more pronounced when turf received high ammonium rate nutrient solution, as manifested by the decrease of TQ, NO₃^-, NRA, K⁺/Na⁺ ratio, shoot and root growth and by the increase of leaf MDA content. This suggests that effects of NO₃^-/NH₄⁺ ratio on salt tolerance varies with salinity levels.

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Salt stress constitutes one of the most significant environmental constraints that limit legume production, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of salt stress (0, 60, and 120 mM of NaCl) on growth, nodulation process, nitrogen uptake and mineral nutrition content of Vicia faba L. plants inoculated with native Moroccan rhizobia isolated from root nodules of faba bean plants grown in the Marrakech-Haouz region. Three Rhizobium leguminosarum strains (RhOF34, RhOF125 and RhOF15), which had different tolerance to salinity, were used to inoculate faba bean plants. The results showed that chronic exposure to salinity affected growth and symbiotic parameters of V. faba differently. Shoot biomasses were reduced under salinity stress especially in the plants inoculated with the salt sensitive strain (RhOF15). The nodulation of faba bean roots sharply decreased under 120 mM salt treatment, particularly with the sensitive Rhizobium strain. The total nitrogen content decreased with increasing salinity, except for the plants inoculated with the tolerant strain RhOF34, which kept a high nitrogen content. Sodium and calcium concentration increased sharply in plant tissues with increasing salt stress, while the potassium concentration decreased. RhOF34 strain reduced Na⁺, Ca²⁺ and K⁺ absorption by faba bean plants. Inoculation with the salt tolerant strains RhOF125 and RhOF34 led to an increased plant biomass, nodules number, and nitrogen content; and seemed to protect faba bean plants against the toxic effects of salinity.