TITLE:
Tolerance to Salinity of Sesame Genotypes in Different Phenological Stages
AUTHORS:
Janivan Fernandes Suassuna, Pedro Dantas Fernandes, Marcos Eric Barbosa Brito, Nair Helena Castro Arriel, Alberto Soares de Melo, Josely Dantas Fernandes
KEYWORDS:
Sesamum indicum, Development Stages, Saline Stress, Relative Crop Yield
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.8 No.8,
July
24,
2017
ABSTRACT: The sesame
crop is usually avoided in salt-affected areas because of the various effects
of saline stress on plants. Besides varying between species, salinity effects
are known to vary for genotypes of the same species as well as plant
development stages. Thus, through the irrigation of plants with saline water,
this study evaluates tolerance to saline stress of new sesame genotypes in
different phenological stages. Three experiments were carried out under
greenhouse conditions, using the sesame genotypes BRS Seda, LAG-927561 and
LAG-26514. Water with different levels of electrical conductivity (ECw = 0.6,
1.6, 2.6, 3.6 and 4.6 dS m-1) was used to irrigate plants
during germination and initial growth stages, as well as the entire crop cycle.
Tolerance to saline stress (3.6 dS m-1) during growth and production
stages was also studied. Salinity did not affect sesame germination, but
seedling growth was hindered from the ECw of 1.6 dS m-1 onwards, and plant height was
the most affected growth variable. Seed production is affected by salinity,
regardless of the phenological stage in which plants are exposed to salinity.
The strains LAG-927561 and LAG-26514 show promising signs in studies on
adaptation to saline stress.