MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND ION CONCENTRATIONS OF GRAFTED AND NON-GRAFTED EGGPLANT SEEDLINGS UNDER DROUGHT AND SALT STRESS

The performance of 4 eggplant genotypes grafted on the salt-tolerant rootstocks under drought and salt stress conditions was evaluated at the seedling stage in a hydroponic system. Four eggplant scion genotypes (Salt-tolerant: Mardin Kiziltepe, Burdur Merkez; Salt-sensitive: Artvin Hopa and Kemer) and 2 rootstocks (Koksal-F-1, Vista-306) were selected for the study. Drought and salt treatments were applied to all materials separately. Drought stress (D-1) was created by adding 15% (w/v) PEG-6000 to growth ambient growth solution. PEG was not added to the growth solution of control plants (D-0). For salt stress (S-1), 100 mM NaCl was added to the growth solution and salt was not added to control plants (S-0). Stress-induced variations in shoot-root fresh and dry weights, relative water contents and ion concentrations were investigated. With regard to investigated parameters, differences were observed between rootstock/scion combinations. Grafted plants showed significantly superior performance against drought and salt stress. The rootstock Koksal-F-1 resulted in greater resistance to drought and salt stress. The grafted plants had higher shoot-root fresh and dry weights, relative water contents and shoot-root Ca+2 and K+ concentrations than non-grafted plants under both stress conditions. The grafted plants also had less reductions in Na+ and Cl- accumulation under salt stress.