Evaluation of the Effect of Laser Irradiation on Germination of Barley in Saline Condition at the Germination Stage

Abstract

To evaluate the effect of laser irradiation on the salinity tolerance in barley (hordeum vulgare L.) in the germination phase and seedling, a three- replicate experiment with CRD in a factorial arrangement experimental type has been previously conducted in Iran. Experimental factors were four barley genotypes (Reihan, Afzal, Fajr30 and Nosrat), two radiation levels (no laser and laser irradiation at 780 nm wavelength for 15 minutes) and five levels of salinity (0, 80, 160, 240 and 320 mM of sodium chloride). In this research, in the germination parameters (root length, shoot length, coleoptile length, root number, germination percentage, mean germination time, dry weight of seedling, seed vigor, and germination rate), all genotypes were significantly affected by increasing the salinity and laser irradiation (P<0.01). There was a reduction in the seed vigor (the most important germination parameter) by increasing the salinity level. The laser pre-treatment caused an increase of 39, 63, 46 and 100 percent in Afzal, Reihan, fajr 30 and Nosrat genotypes, respectively. The overall result showed a positive effect of the laser irradiation on the investigated traits.

Keywords

• barley
• germination
• laser irradiation
• salinity stress