Effects of salinity on some morphological characteristics of stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) in vitro Condition
Subject Areas : Ecophysiology & Phytochemistry of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Keywords: Salinity, in vitro, Stevia,
Abstract :
Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is a Medicinal, perennial and herbaceous plant from Asteraceae family with sweet glycosides in its leaves. Salinity stress is one of the important limiters in agricultural productions. Salinity influences the growth and development of plant by effect on more activities in physiological and morphological characteristics. To study the effect of salinity on morphological characteristics of Stevia, a completely randomized experimental design was conducted with three replications in tissue culture laboratory of Sari Science and Technology Park. The treatments of experiment consisted of four salinity levels (0, 50, 75 and 100 mM NaCl). The measured morphological traits are included of plant height, root length, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, chlorophyll (SPAD value), fresh and dry weight. Results showed that salinity had a significant effect on all of the morphological traits. So that all traits were decreased in the 1% significance level by increasing salinity. The maximum and minimum of measured traits was observed in control and 100 mM NaCl. In the whole the results indicated that Stevia is sensitive to salinity stress. The control and 50 mM NaCl samples showed the best results.