Effect of salinity stress on grain yield and plant characteristics in bread wheat recombinant inbred lines

A population of 278 RILs (F8 Recombinant Inbred Lines) of bread wheat derived from a cross of Attila/Kauz (salt sensitive) and Karchia (salt tolerant) were evaluated in α-Lattice Design with two replications under two envirnemntal conditions (normal: water and soil salinity = 2 dS.m-1& salinity stress: water salinity=11-17 dS.m-1 and soil salinity=13 dS.m-1) in Yazd in 2008, to determine the effect of salinity on grain yield and othercharacteristics. Analysis of variance showed that there were significant differences among varieties for concerned characteristics, indicating the existence of genetic variation among RILs. Salinity reduced the mean of characteristics, particularly, grain yield and grain weight.spike-1. The genotype × envirnemnet interactions was highly significant on grain yield and grain weight.spike-1, spike weight and some other characteristics, indicatingthat RILs responed differently to salinity condition for these characteristics. In contrast the genotype × environment interaction on plant height, pedancle lenght, spike lenght and grain no.spike-1 were not significant, indicating a lower differential response to salinity. For these characteristics. Biomass and harvest index, had the highest correlation with grain yield in normal and salinity stress conditions.