Physiological performance of two Korean rice cultivars viz. Ilmi and Dong-Jin were examined in saline environment. Salinity caused a substantial decline in seed germination of two tested cultivars with considerable variations among them. Among the cultivars, DongJin appeared to be more sensitive at germination stage compared to Ilmi. Similarly, in saline environment, seedling height, root and shoot biomass and root/ shoot biomass ratio was lower in Dong-Jin than Ilmi. While varietal differences in both the cultivars were evident at the highest NaCl (225mM) concentration for most of the considered growth parameters. Antioxidant enzymes activities were also observed and discussed in relation to physiological mechanism of stress tolerance. Dong-Jin exhibited a decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and an increase in peroxidase (POX) activity under salinization. However, Ilmi showed only slight increase in SOD and decrease in POX activity in saline environment. Salt stress preferentially enhanced the content of H2O2 as well as the activities of the SOD and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), whereas it caused a reduction in catalase (CAT) activity.
Huda Shahid, Jung-Il Cho, Soo-Chul Park, Tae-Hun Ryu, Sung-Han Park, Zamin Shaheed Siddiqui. (2014) PHYSIOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE OF TWO KOREAN RICE CULTIVARS UNDER SALINE ENVIRONMENT AT SEEDLING STAGE, , Volume 11, Issue 1.
