Response of Some Wheat Varieties to Gibberellic Acid under Saline Conditions

Abstract

Core Ideas The response of some wheat varieties to gibberellic acid (GA3) hormone under salinity stress was evaluated. Use of GA3 was successful for alleviating the adverse effects of salinity. Genetic element plays a vital role in the variations among the varieties. Salinity is one of the primary abiotic stresses, especially in arid and semiarid regions. An experiment was conducted in a controlled condition at Yangzhou University, Jiangsu, China, to determine whether the gibberellic acid (GA3) might be alleviating the harmful effects of NaCl on germination and early seedling growth attributes. In this investigation, four varieties (Argin, Imam, Xumai 30, and Yang 11‐10), four salinity levels (0, 100, 200, and 300 mM NaCl), and three concentrations of GA3 (0, 0.29, and 0.58 mM) were tested. Germination rate, germination percentage, shoot length, root length, dry weight, STI (salt tolerance index), and SVI (seedling vigor index) were affected by the interactions between variety and salinity and by interactions between salinity and GA3. Water uptake, germination percentage, and root length were affected by the interactions between variety and GA3. At the 300 mM salinity level, 0.58 GA3 increased water uptake by 33.9% and Argin had the highest germination rate (35.6), shoot length (0.64 cm), dry weight (3.7 mg plant −1), STI (22.2), and SVI (0.75). Moreover, among all hormone levels used in this study, 0.58 mM was most effective on most parameters that measured. These results suggest that soaking the seeds in GA3 solutions can reduce the influence of growing salinity problems worldwide.