Abstract

Salinity is one of the major limitations of plant growth and productivity all over the world. In vitro screening with marker assisted selection can greatly facilitate the selection and isolation of useful tolerant lines. The genetic basis of salt tolerance was examined in salt tolerant (EC 558706), moderately tolerant (EC 558719) and salt sensitive (EC 558620) maize genotypes. Callus lines from mature embryos were developed and exposed to culture media containing, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2% NaCl concentrations. The treated calli were used to detect DNA based molecular markers associated with salt tolerance by random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique. Ten (10) polymorphic bands were found related to salt tolerance in maize. The analysis revealed A 11 (1200, 600, 300 bp), C 20 (300 bp), OPA 10 (2800 bp), OPA 13 (900, 600, 250 bp), OPX 11 (800 bp), OPI 01 (700 bp) and OPK 20 (700 bp) primers associated with salt tolerance which can be utilized in breeding programmevia., marker assisted selection and developing salt tolerant genotype by genetic transformation.

Key words: Maize, salt tolerance, molecular marker, RAPD.