Effect of putrescine and sodium chloride on morphological and physiological characteristics of wild  Konar (Ziziphus spina-christi L.)

In this research, effect of different levels of salinity and application of different concentration of putrescine were investigated for decreasing harmful effects of salt on morphological and physiological characteristics of wild ‘Konar’. A factorial experiment was arranged in a Compelet Randomized Design (CRD) with 4 replications. Treatments were 4 levels of 0, 3.2, 6.4 and 12.8 g/l sodium chloride and 3 levels of 0, 0.01 and 0.1 mM putrescine. The results showed that with increasing salinity, all growth indices such as leaf number, stem length leaf and root fresh and dry weight reduced and spraying application of putrescine especially with 0.1 mM concentration ameliorated seedlings growth in salt condition. Salt stress increased Na and Cl- uptake and declined K uptake. Foliar Putrescine application reduced and increased Na and K uptake, respectively. Salinity also reduced the amount of chlorophyll and starch, but the amount of proline and soluble sugars were increased. Applied putrescine reduced the damaging effect of salt on chlorophyll degradation and also increased the amount of proline, sugar and starch.