To investigation the effects of salt stress levels (0, 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mM NaCl) on five maize (Zea mays L.) cultivars at germination stage, this study was performed at Ardabil, Iran in 2011. The results showed that in all cultivars, as the salt concentration increased, both germination percentage and germination index decreased significantly. Increasing salt concentration affected the early seedling growth in all cultivars. There were differences in responses of cultivars to salt stress. For all salt concentrations, Golden west had the highest germination percentage and germination index. Salt concentration decreased shoot and root dry weight. BC678 and Golden west had the lowest reduction of shoot and root dry weight, respectively. OS 499 had the highest reduction of shoot and root dry weightin this study; Golden west showed better results than the other cultivars in respect to salt tolerance index. The results show that Golden west was the cultivar to be recommended for saline soils. OS499 was more sensitive to salinity in this study.

Key words: Corn, germination, salt stress, NaCl, germination index.