Rima Massa (1)*, Fahed Al-Biski (2) and Khalil Al-Maarri(1)
(1). Department of Horticultural Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Damascus, Damascus, Syria.
(2). National Commission for Biotechnology (NCBT), Damascus, Syria.
(*corresponding author: Dr. Rima Massa. Email: rima.massa@yahoo.com )
Received: 9/04/2020 Accepted: 7/06/2020
Abstract
This research was carried out at the laboratories of the National Commission for Biotechnology (NCBT) and the Faculty of Agriculture (Damascus/Syria) during the years 2014- 2019 to study the effect of salt stress on some growth parameters (plant length, leaf area, root length and as well as fresh weight) of regenerated plantlets from stressed callus of two potato varieties (Svenja and Safari). Nine regenerated plantlets from Svenja callus, and three lines from Safari callus were obtained, moreover lines S9, S10 from Svenja, and SF1, SF5 from Safari were all genetically varied from the mother plants. This proves that the exposure of the callus to salt stress and plant hormones occurs genetic changes at the level of the callus cells as well as at the level of regenerated plants. The lines S9 from Svenja, and SF5 from Safari were selected as salt-tolerant lines, these lines tolerate high concentrations of sodium chloride (200 and 250 mM). These results also prove the possibility of using callus technique to develop new tolerance genotypes different from mother varieties against abiotic stresses.
Key words: Solanum tuberosum, Salt stress, Somaclonal variations, Regeneration, Growth regulators, Genetic variability
Full paper in Arabic: PDF