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ASSESSMENT OF INTER-CULTIVAR VARIATION FOR SALT TOLERANCE IN SAFFLOWER
(CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS L.) USING GAS EXCHANGE CHARACTERISTICS
AS SELECTION CRITERIA
EJAZ HUSSAIN SIDDIQI1*, MUHAMMAD ASHRAF1,
MUMTAZ HUSSAIN1 AND AMER JAMIL2
Abstract: An experiment was carried out to appraise inter-accession variation for
salt tolerance in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) using gas
exchange attributes and photosynthetic pigments as useful selection
criteria. Ten accessions of safflower viz., Safflower-31, Safflower-32,
Safflower-33, Safflower-34, Safflower-35, Safflower-36, Safflower-37,
Safflower-38, Safflower-39, Safflower-78 were screened at 150 mM NaCl at
the vegetative stage. Salt stress resulted in a considerable decline in
biomass (shoot and root dry mass) of all safflower lines. Safflower-36
and Safflower-38 were higher Safflower-39 lower while the remaining
lines were intermediate in biomass production under saline regime. Salt
stress also reduced physiological and biochemical attributes such as
rate of photosynthesis, transpiration, stomatal conductance, and
chlorophylls a and b in all safflower lines. A significant
inter-accession variation was found in all safflower accessions with
respect to difference in net CO2 assimilation rate (A). Since a positive
association of net photosynthetic rate (A) with biomass (shoot and root
dry weights) was observed in the 10 diverse safflower lines under saline
conditions, thus it can be used as an effectual indicator of salinity
tolerance in safflower.
1Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
2Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad,
Pakistan
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