Interaction of salt stress and gamma ray on seed germination and seedling growth of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

Nowadays, it is clear that the nuclear techniques especially gamma radiation play an important role in production of resistance plants to salinity.These experiments were conducted in two phases. First of which is germination in a factorial based on completely randomized design and second of which is seedling growth in a factorial based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications at the Faculty of Agriculture in Birjand University. We used three kinds of Safflower cultivars namely Isfahan14, KW9, IL111 and six gamma rays at 0, 50 100, 200, 300, and 400 Gy and five salinity levels of 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 dsm-1. Experimental results showed that the response of safflower against gamma radiation and salinity varied. Salinity decreased root and shoot length, root and shoot dry weight, leaf number and area, and stomatal conductance. Root dry weight at the dose of 50 Gy and salinity levels of 3 and 6 dsm-1 and at 100 Gy at all salinity levels increased. Gamma irradiation doses of 300 and 400 Gy decreased root and shoot growth characteristics of safflower. According to the results of the experiment, it can be concluded that doses less than 200 Gy in safflower are capable of producing salt- resistance crop.