Abstract

A hydroponics experiment was conducted to assess the role of abscisic acid (ABA), benzyladenine (BA) and cycocel (CCC) on growth and ion accumulation of three spring wheat cultivars, cv. Wafaq-2001, cv. Inqulab-91, and cv. SAARC-1 under salinity stress. Seeds of all the cultivars were treated prior to sowing with ABA and BA each at 10^-5 M and CCC at 10^-6 M for 24 h. Three weeks old plants of both the cultivars were exposed to 0, 75 and 150 mM NaCl. Thirty day old plants were harvested after sixteen days of salt treatment. Dry weight of shoot and root were decreased with salt treatment. But ABA, BA and CCC treatments caused a significant ameliorative effect on all the cultivars. Concentrations of Na⁺ and Cl^- in shoot of all the three cultivars were increased with the increasing level of NaCl. ABA, BA and CCC pre-treatment increased K⁺ and Ca²⁺ but reduced Na⁺ and Cl^-concentrations in shoot of all the cultivars. However, the magnitude of reduction was higher in ABA pre-treated plants.

Key words: Wheat, salinity, abscisic acid, benzyladenine, cycocel.