VALBONA SOTA1, BRUNILDA ÇUKO1, EFIGJENI KONGJIKA2
1Biotechnology Department, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Tirana University, Tirana, Albania
2Section of Natural and Technical Sciences, Academy of Sciences, Tirana, Albania
*Corresponding author; bona_sota@yahoo.com
Abstract
Salinity stress is a critical environmental constraint to crop productivity for most species. Wheat is one of the most important species of cereals used for food and feed, as well as in the bio ethanol industry, but is intolerable to high salinity conditions resulting in decreased yield. In the present study was evaluated salinity effect (NaCl) on five wheat cultivars (U2, U10/15, Progresi, Dajti and LVS). As primary explants were used zygotic embryos cultivated on MS media and for organogenesis induction were tested two types of PGRs, BAP and 2,4-D (2 mg/l each). The derived explants were cultivated on MS media combined with 2 mg/l BAP and 0.2 mg/l NAA. In this stage was evaluated salinity stress where were investigated three NaCl levels compared with control (0, 50, 100 and 200 mM). Significant differences were noticed among the cultivars followed by different NaCl levels. The salt stress significantly influenced the plantlets growth which was reduced gradually with the increase of salinity from 0 to 200 mM NaCl. All the cultivars survived at 50 mM NaCl concentration. Only the plantlets of Progresi and LVS survived 100 mM NaCl concentration, meanwhile none of them survived at higher concentrations of NaCl. In most cases, the control was found superior in growth characterized than rest of the tested NaCl levels.
Keywords: salt stress, NaCl, in vitro culture, wheat, MS medium, PGRs
