Validity of various physiological traits as screening criteria for salt tolerance in barley

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Limited knowledge of the physiological basis of the detrimental effects of soil salinity on growth and yield of barley and the consequent lack of suitable screening traits are two reasons for the limited success of plant breeding in saline environments. We assessed the relationships between grain yield, carbon isotope discrimination (Δ), canopy temperature, stomatal conductance, and grain ash content in a set of barley cultivars grown in a soil salinity gradient imposed by a triple-line-source sprinkler system. A linear increase in soil salinity produced significant (P0.05). A multiple linear regression of Δ, stomatal conductance and grain ash content on grain yield was highly significant (R2=0.77, P
This research was supported by a CICYT (Ministry of education, Spain) research project founds and a CONAI (Government of Aragón, Spain) fellowship to R. Isla.