A.F. Ologundudu , A.T. Ajayi

Department of Plant Science & Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
Author    Correspondence author
Bioscience Methods, 2016, Vol. 7, No. 3   doi: 10.5376/bm.2016.07.0003
Received: 16 Jun., 2016    Accepted: 06 Dec., 2016    Published: 22 Dec., 2016

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Ologundudu A.F., and Ajayi A.T., 2016, Physiological indicators of salinity tolerance in four rice (Oryza sativa L.) Cultivars, Bioscience Methods, 7(3): 1-11 (doi: 10.5376/bm.2016.07.0003)

The study investigated the physiological indicators of salinity tolerance in four rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars with the aim of identifying the critical threshold of responses to different salts and different growth stages. Rice seeds were sown in ninety six plastic pots and the seedlings were divided into two salinity treatment of NaCl and Na₂SO₄ at three different concentrations (5, 10 and 15 ds/m) respectively while distilled water served as the control. A factorial experiment (4 x 4 x 2 x 3) laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used. Treatments were applied at the vegetative, flowering and grain-filling stages. The seedlings were raised in a screenhouse under normal environmental conditions. Sampling was done two weeks after salinization and at one week interval. The result of the growth parameters studied revealed that growth was inhibited for all varieties at the highest salinity concentrations in both treatments. The growth analysis which was more enhanced under Na₂SO₄ than NaCl, attributed to the more intense inhibitory effect of NaCl more than Na₂SO₄ to water uptake, distribution of essential mineral nutrients thereby interfering with metabolic processes such as photosynthesis and protein synthesis.

Screenhouse; Salinization; Sampling; Threshold; Treatment