Comparison of Morphological Characteristics of Roots in Genotypes of Barely (Hordeum Vulgare) in Vegetative Phase Using Filter Paper and Gel Chamber

The role of root growth on increase of yield is an important subject that is considered by plant breeders. In order to investigate root growth of 18 barley (Hordeum vulgare) genotypes at seedling growth stage, two separate experiments were conducted in the Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in 2012. A completely randomized design with three replications was used for each experiment. After seeds germination in petri dishes, some seeds were transferred into gel chamber. The rest of germinated seeds were put into distilled water by use of rolled filter paper. The genotypes were compared by total root length, root dry weight, shoot dry weight, root diameter. Results showed that C-87-10 had highest total root length with 283 mm total root length in filter paper and 226 mm in gel chamber. Nimruz cultivar in filter paper with 139.3 mm and Sahand cultivar in gel chamber with 39 mm, produced the lowest total root length. Also Yosef, DC-85-5, C-87-10 and Nosrat genotypes had highest root dry weight and Val-fajr, Sahand and Nimruz genotypes had lowest root dry weight. in first experiment DC-85-5 and Sahand cultivar produced highest and lowest leaf length and in second experiment C-87-19 and Sahand cultivar had highest and lowest total leaf area.