Effect of NaCl stress on seed germination and physiological and biochemical characteristics of seedlings of Phalaris arundinacea

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of NaCl stress on seed germination and physiological and biochemical characteristics of seedlings of 6 accessions Phalaris arundinacea by measuring seed germination rate, fresh weight, shoot length, root length, proline content, chlorophyll and malonaldehyde (MDA) content. The NaCl stress consisted of 0(CK), 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mmol/L. The results of this study showed that lower NaCl concentration did not significantly affected seed germination and seedling growth of P.arundinacea; however, the germination rate, fresh weight, shoot length, root length and chlorophyll content of P.arundinacea decreased, and the proline content significantly increased, and MDA content decreased firstly decreased and then increased as the NaCl concentration increased. This study indicated that 6 accessions of P.arundinacea had the different salt tolerance in seed germination and physiological property of seedling, in which Zxy06p2449 and Zxy06p1904 were the strongest salt tolerant, and Zxy06p2380 and Zxy06p2633 were intermediate, and Zxy06p2262 and Zxy06p1916 were sensitive to salt stress.