The Effect of Salinity on Some Physiological Parameters in Two Maize Cultivars

In this study, effect of salinity with different osmotic potential on shoot length, total fresh and dry weight, amounts of organic (proline) and inorganic (K+ and Na+) substance of leaf tissue, the Na+/K+ ratio, and leaf area, relative water content (RWC) and leaf osmolality in two maize (Zea mays L., var. intendata, C.6127 and DK.623) cultivars which are grown as a second yield in the Southeastern Anatolia Region (SAR) of Turkey, were investigated. Plants were grown for 30 days in the controlled growth room. Salinized culture solutions at different osmotic potential (0, -0.1, -0.3 and -0.5 MPa) prepared by adding varying amounts of NaCl and CaCl2 to the main culture solution were applied to plants from the beginning of the germination. As a result the shoot length, total fresh and dry weight and the leaf area decreased, amounts of proline Na+, Na+/K+ ratio and the leaf osmolality increased, but amounts of K+ did not change significantly with increasing stress, and salt stress caused a similar decrease in leaf relative water content in both maize cultivars.