Effects of Salt Stress on the Germination, Water Content and Seedling Growth of Zea mays L.
Keywords:
Zea mays, salt stress, inhibition, water content, germination, seedling growthAbstract
Salt stress is one of the most severe environmental factors that reduces and limits growth and development of plants. The aim of this experiment is to examine the effect of NaCl on the germination, water content and seedling growth of Zea mays L. Seeds of Zea mays were germinated in Petri-dishes which had been lined with Whatman No 1 filter papers. The filter paper in each of the Petri-dishes allocated to the control was moistened with ten milliliters of distilled water while that of the Petri-dishes allocated to the other treatments were moistened with ten milliliters of 10mm, 20mm and 30 mm concentrations of the NaCl solution. The germination percentage, water absorption of the seeds, water content of the seedlings and the growth parameters were determined according to conventional methods. The germination and growth parameters of NaCl treated seedlings were significantly inhibited at P < 0.05. The inhibition of the germination percentage, germination rate, water content, growth and biomass accumulation of the seedlings were observed to increase significantly with increasing NaCl concentration.
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