ECOPHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM L. TO DIFFERENT LEVELS OF SALT STRESS

Germination is one of the most important stage for the development of plants. One of the factors affecting germination is salt stress. All over the world due to increasing drought and semi-drought conditions most plants face salinity in soil. In this study, ecophysiological responses of Solanum lycopersicum "Marmande" seeds under different NaCl concentrations (% 0.5, 1, 2, 50 mM, 100 mM, 150 mM, 0.25 M, 0.45 M) were studied. Germination percentage, germination rate, total biomass, root length, green pixels and salt tolerance index (STI) were measured. The highest germination percentage and rate were observed in 0.5 % NaCl application (97.5%; 79.59) and the lowest were in 0.45 mM NaCl (2.5%; 5.88). Biomass, root length and STI reached the highest value at 50 mM NaCl application (respectively 460, 67 kg/ha, 11, 96 cm, 1,142). The biomass, root length and STI value of 2%, 0,25 M and 0,45 M NaCl applications were very low (respectively 0.001 kg/ha, 0.01, 0.001). There was no seedling development for green pixel count for 2%, 0,25 M and 0.45 M NaCl applications so the value was equal to 0, but other NaCl applications resulted in homogenic groups statistically.