AbstractSoil salinity has become a very serious issue in many parts of the world. Salinity is the most important factor limiting plants growth in these areas. Therefore, in order to make better use of saline soils, it is necessary to identify salinity-resistant plants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of salinity on the response of two Prosopis species to salt stress at arid and semi-arid lands. The present study was done as a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized design. The first factor was salinity of 1.8 (control), 5.8, 10.2 and 16.4 dS/ m and the second factor and second factors were two genotypes (P.cineraria and P.juliflora). The results showed a gradual decrease in stem height, total leaf area, root and shoot dry weight and number of leaves per seedling of both species by increasing salinity of the root zone. Low salinity levels (5.8 dS/ m) do not cause a substantial inhibition of growth, but increasing the salt concentration gradually reduces the vegetative characteristics. In both genotypes, proline, total nitrogen, Glycine betaine aldehyde and calcium (Ca) increased with increasing salt concentration. Also, these factors were significantly higher in Prosopis juliflora than Prosopis cineraria. Potassium (K), organic carbon (OC %), decreased significantly in both genotypes with increasing salt concentration. Glycine betaine aldehyde is one of the effective strategies in salt stress tolerance and increasing carbon storage in soil. پرونده مقاله

In most southern provinces of Iran, Soil Salinity is a growing problem particularly in the irrigated agricultural areas and has been found to reduce crop yields. In order to investigate the role of pod removal in seed germination, seedling growth and antioxidant enzymes activity in annual medics (Medicago scutella L.) under salinity stress conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted at College of Agriculture, Shiraz University in 2014 based on the completely randomized design with four replications. The factors included: 1) the presence or removal of seed pod, and 2) salinity stress at five levels involving controls 3, 6, 9 and 12 dS m-1. The results showed that salinity stress has caused the changes of germination, seedling growth and antioxidant enzymes activity. By increasing salinity stress levels, a significant reduction was observed in speed and percentage of germination as well as rootlet length, shoot length and seedling weight. However, the increased levels of salinity stress caused the increased antioxidant enzymes activity. Germination and seedling growth in seeds with no pod were more than seeds with pod, but about enzymes' activity, no significant difference was observed among seeds with and without pod, except for ascorbate peroxidase enzyme activity that was significantly more in seeds without pod as compared to the seeds with pod. پرونده مقاله