Effects of boric acid pretreatment on the seed germination, seedling growth and leaf anatomy of barley under saline conditions

In this work, the effects of boric acid pretreatment on the seed germination, seedling growth (coleoptile percentage, radicle length, coleoptile length, radicle number and fresh weight) and leaf anatomy of barley under saline conditions were studied. In parallel with concentration increase, salt stress inhibited the germination and seedling growth of barley seeds. Boric acid application alleviated in varying degrees the inhibitive effect of salt on the final germination percentage, coleoptile percentage and coleoptile length. However, it was not able to show a success on the radicle length, radicle number and fresh weight. On the other hand, it was determined that the mentioned pretreatment affected in different degrees on the various parameters of leaf anatomy of barley seedlings, and this difference was statistically significant.