EFFECT OF SALT STRESS ON GROWTH PARAMETERS AND ANTIOXIDANT ENZYMES OF DIFFERENT WHEAT (Triticum aestivum L.) VARIETIES ON IN VITRO TISSUE CULTURE

In this study, in vitro tissue cultures were established from Tekirdag, Pehlivan and Flamura-85 wheat varieties and NaCl stress was applied to these cultures in concentrations ranging from 0 to 250 mM. The effects of salt stress on regeneration in tissue culture of Tekirdag, Pehlivan and Flamura-85 varieties were investigated and it has been detected that salt stress decreases the regeneration ability of wheat in tissue culture comparing to the control. Depending on the applied increasing salt concentration in each of the three varieties, a decrease was detected on percentages of plant regeneration, plant fresh weights and content of chlorophyll in cultured 28-days-old mature embryo cultures of Tekirdag, Pehlivan and Flamura-85 varieties. An increase was observed in the soluble protein content of Flamura-85 variety under salinity conditions, while a decrease was observed in soluble protein contents of Tekirdag and Pehlivan varieties. In addition, an increase was determined for SOD, CAT and POD enzyme activities for each three varieties as a salt stress response, and as the result of running the native-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis changes were observed for CAT and POD isoenzyme patterns.