DECIPHERING PHYSIO-BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ZnSO4 PRIMED WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) PLANTS GROWN UNDER SALT STRESS

Zinc dearth is an imperative soil constraint facing agriculture, particularly cereals. Zinc is a critical micronutrient involved in many physiological processes including carbohydrate metabolism and maintain high yields in plants. The study evaluated the role of Zn grain priming in alleviating the detrimental effects of salt stress. Salt stress (100 mM) negatively influenced plant parts that ultimately perturbed physiology and biochemistry of wheat varieties Faisalabad-2008 and Galaxy -2013. Preconditioning of Triticum aestivum L., wheat grains with ZnSO4 (0, 0.5, 1, 2, 5 and 10 mM) increased growth, chlorophyll, K and Zn contents in root and shoot of both wheat varieties. Correlation analysis, dendrogram and PCA analysis clearly indicated that root and shoot Na are positively correlated with each other and negatively regulate photosynthetic pigments, ionic contents and growth of plants. Overall, results suggested that 5 mM ZnSO4 priming was effective in attenuating salt stress in both wheat genotypes.