Varietal differences in physiological and biochemical responses to salinity stress in six finger millet plants
Loading...
Date
2020
Authors
Mukami, Asunta
Ng’etich, Alex
Syombua, Easter
Oduor, Richard
Mbinda, Wilton
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Physiol Mol Biol Plants
Abstract
Finger millet is an important cereal that is grown
in semi-arid and arid regions of East-Africa. Salinity stress
is a major environmental impediment for the crop growth
and production. This study aimed to understand the physiological and biochemical responses to salinity stress of six
Kenyan finger millet varieties (GBK043137, GBK043128,
GBK043124, GBK043122, GBK043094, GBK043050)
grown across different agroecological zones under NaClinduced salinity stress (100, 200 and 300 mM NaCl). Seeds
were germinated on the sterile soil and treated using various concentrations of NaCl for 2 weeks. Early-seedling
stage of germinated plants were irrigated with the same salt
concentrations for 60 days. The results indicated depression in germination percentage, shoot and root growth rate,
leaf relative water content, chlorophyll content, leaf K?
concentration, and leaf K?/Na? ratios with increased salt
levels and the degree of increment differed among the
varieties. On the contrary, the content of proline, malonaldehyde, leaf total proteins, and reduced sugar increased
with increasing salinity. At the same time, the leaf Na? and
Cl- amounts of all plants increased substantially with
increasing stress levels. Clustering analysis placed
GBK043094 and GBK043137 together and these varieties
were identified as salt-tolerant based on their performance.
Taken together, our findings indicated a significant varietal
variability for most of the parameters analysed. The
superior varieties identified could be used as promising
genetic resources in future breeding programmes directed
towards development of salt-tolerant finger millet hybrids.
Further analysis at genomic level needs to be undertaken to
better understand the genetic factors that promote salinity
tolerance in finger millet.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Finger millet, Physiological and biochemical analyses, Salinity stress, Varietal differences
Citation
Mukami, A., Ng’etich, A., Syombua, E., Oduor, R., & Mbinda, W. (2020). Varietal differences in physiological and biochemical responses to salinity stress in six finger millet plants. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants, 26(8), 1569-1582.