Assessment of variability in salt tolerance based on seedling growth in Triticum durum Desf.

Variability in response to salinity was examined in 29 Triticum durum Desf. accessions or cultivars based upon relative root and shoot lengths of 14-day-old seedlings grown in control and 100 mM NaCl solutions. NaCl caused a significant reduction of root and shoot growth for all accessions/cultivars, but the degree of reduction differed between them. Some cultivars had significantly greater relative root and shoot lengths than others, suggesting that there may be potentially useful variability in salinity tolerance within the durum wheats.