AN EVALUATION OF CANOLA GENOTYPES UNDER SALINITY STRESS AT VEGETATIVE STAGE VIA MORPHOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL TRAITS

Salinity is a constraint limiting plant growth and productivity of crops throughout the world. Fourteen canola genotypes were subjected to three salinity levels 0, 150, and 350 mM Salinity effect was evaluated on the basis of biomass yield reduction and physiological attributes. Aggravated salinity stress caused significant effect in all measured parameters. Salinity stress increase reduced fresh and dry masses of shoots and roots, Chlorophyll content, RWC and K+ content of shoots and roots. Proline content, shoot and root Na+ content and electrolyte leakage were increased by salinity stress. A dendrogram was constructed by WARD based on fresh and dry masses of shoots and roots and physiological traits where all 14 canola genotypes were grouped into 4 clusters proving diversity among them. The 2-dimensional principal component analysis (PCA) has also confirmed the output of categorization from cluster analysis. Overall, the acquired results indicated that, among all 14 canola genotypes, salinity stressed canola genotype Safi-7 was the best salt-tolerant canola genotype considering biomass production and physiological growth and produced the highest amount of fresh and dry weight and Zafar was the most salt-sensitive genotype.