ANTIOXIDANT VARIABILITY OF WHEAT GENOTYPES UNDER SALINITY STRESS in situ

Crop cultivation under the open-field conditions depends on a variety of biotic and abiotic factors which cause plant stress and deterioration. Due to high soil salinity, some soils can be an unfavourable growing environment for most plants. As a low productivity soil type, solonetz soils are a stressful growing environment, causing plant deterioration. Plants have developed a complex antioxidative defense system as a precaution against oxidative stress caused by high soil salinity. The trial was set up on a halomorphic soil type-solonetz. The research included ten cultivars, one local population of hexaploid wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. aestivum L.) and one cultivar of triticale (Triticosecale W.). The activity of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in plant antioxidative defense system was detected during the trial, as well as lipid peroxidation. The analysis of biochemical markers was done in the flowering stage, and then in the milk maturity phase. Research results of the tested components revealed the highest stress tolerance exhibited by genotypes Banatka and Bankut 1205. Understanding the process of oxygen radical production by the plant tissue contributes to breeding wheat cultivars for better stress tolerance. Selection of genotypes better adapted to growing conditions in solonetz soils could facilitate a more economically justifiable wheat production, and promote utilization of the lower-quality soil types in agriculture.