Effect of osmotic stress on the development of durum wheat seedlings

We performed a laboratory experiment to compare the response of the two genotypes of spring durum wheat to excessive chloride salinity and osmotic stress. The cultivars differed in field tolerance to drought when grown under conditions of the steppe zone of the Altai Territory, Russia. To simulate osmotic stress, solutions of polyethylene glycol 6000 and sodium chloride were used, whose osmotic potential was 11 MPa. The control was distilled water. We evaluated the following traits: seed germination, shoot length, root length, the number of primary roots, root fresh weight, shoot fresh weight. The studied genotypes turned out to be more sensitive to stress triggered by a high content of sodium chloride in the environment. The main damaging factors under the action of excess salts are complex osmotic and toxic effects. A higher seed germination and a more developed root system of seedlings of 'Bezenchukskaya 210', as compared to '12S1-14', confirm the ability of the drought-tolerant genotype to osmotic adjustment under osmotic stress.