Abstract
The current study provides information on the response of different wheat lines to salinity stress under both in vitro and green house conditions. The root and shoot response of three different wheat varieties, Siran, Atta-Habib and Pir-Sabaq was evaluated against salt stress under in vitro condition. In the next phase, the same lines were grown under greenhouse conditions and the response was studied on morphological and biochemical traits. Under in vitro conditions, the Siran variety performed better than Atta-Habib in terms of shoot and root morphological data. Under green house condition, the Siran variety showed significantly high (P≤ 0.05) root length and number, fresh and dry mass, and moisture content than that of Atta-Habib and Pir-Sabaq under salt stress (100 mM NaCl). The Siran variety maintained significantly (P≤ 0.05) high chlorophyll and proline content than that of Atta-Habib and Pir-Sabaq under salt stress. The tolerance mechanism in the Siran variety is proposed to be the high chlorophyll and proline content under salt stress. These results also suggest that in vitro screening provides useful preliminary information for evaluation of salt tolerance in different varieties of wheat.
