Proceedings of the XLV Italian Society of Agricultural Genetics - SIGA Annual Congress

Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy - 26/29 September, 2001

ISBN 88-900622-1-5

Poster Abstract

SCREENING IN GENETIC RESOURCES OF CUCUMIS MELO L. FOR SALT TOLERANCE

RICCIARDI L., MARCOTRIGIANO A.R., DE GIOVANNI C., ZONNO V.

Dipartimento di Biologia e Chimica Agro-Forestale ed Ambientale, Sez. di Genetica e Miglioramento Genetico, Facoltà di Agraria, Università degli Studi di Bari, Via Amendola 165/a 70126 Bari

ricciard@agr.uniba.it; pascalina@galactica.it; claudio.degiovanni@agr.uniba.it; vitoz@agr.uniba.it

salt-stress, melon, germplasm, tolerance

Several plant breeding programs are performed to select genotypes having high and stable yields. Salt stress is one of the major yield-limiting factor of crops in the arid and semi-arid regions of the world, which are characterised by limited water supply and water of low quality. In such areas, water resources very often are saline, and their use may be limited by the salt susceptibility of the crop.

Melon is an important crop in different regions of southern Italy, particularly in Apulia region, where there is a scarce availability and low quality of water. Although melon has been described by various authors as moderately salt-tolerance, yield losses often occur when certain salinity thresholds are exceeded in the irrigation. Therefore there is the need to develop cultivars with higher salt tolerance.

In this study genetic resources of Cucumis melo L., including also Carosello and Barattiere (remunerative ecotypes largely grown in Apulia region), collected in Italy and Albania, were tested for salt tolerance at germination stage using five NaCl solutions (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 mM). Comparing the results of germination rates, mean time germination, dry and fresh weight root recorded at different concentrations of NaCl, we evaluated some injury indices respect to the control in distillate water.

Results of the experiments showed that at germination stage some genotypes had lower injury indices than other genotypes grown in media salt containing. These genotypes appear to be tolerant to different degree of salinity; however, to confirm this result, tolerant genotypes must be also evaluated for salt tolerance during further developmental stages.