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Published online 19 March 2008
Published in Crop Sci 48:756-762 (2008)
© 2008 Crop Science Society of America
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Improving Seed Germination of Saltgrass under Saline Conditions

M. A. Shahbaa, Y. L. Qiana,* and K. D. Lairb

a Dep. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO 80523-1173
b Bureau of Reclamation, Technical Service Center, Denver, CO 80225. The research was, in part, supported by the U.S. Golf Association and the U.S. Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Reclamation, through the Rocky Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit

* Corresponding author (Yaling.Qian{at}Colostate.edu).

Saltgrass [Distichlis spicata var. stricta (Greene)] has a great potential for use as a turfgrass and as a revegetation species of saline sites. Experiments were conducted to test the effect of the application of different concentrations of ethephon, fusicoccin, kinetin, thiourea, and Proxy on saltgrass seed germination under three salinity levels. Saltgrass germination percentage was 56% under nonsaline condition, which was reduced to 46 and 26% at 15 and 30 dS m–1 salinity levels, respectively. Ethephon application (5 mM) increased saltgrass germination percentage under the highest salinity treatment (30 dS m–1) only. However, Proxy (at 5 mM a.i.) increased saltgrass germination under all salinity treatments, reaching 97, 76, and 40% under control, 15 dS m–1, and 30 dS m–1 salinity levels, respectively. Kinetin at 0.5 to 1.0 mM did not increase saltgrass germination under nonsaline conditions but increased germination percentage by 35% at 15 dS m–1 and by 89% at 30 dS m–1 salinity. Fusicoccin (at 10 µM) and thiourea (at 30.0 mM) also increased germination percentage under all salinity treatments. Our investigation showed that 5.0 mM ethephon, 10 µM fusicoccin, 0.5 to 1.0 mM kinetin, 30 mM thiourea, and Proxy (at 5 mM a.i.) increased saltgrass seed germination under saline conditions. Proxy was the most effective in improving saltgrass germination percentage under saline conditions, followed by thiourea, fusicoccin, ethephon, and kinetin.

Abbreviations: ABA, abscisic acid • EC, electrical conductivity

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Received for publication July 11, 2007.




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