EFFECT OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL ORIGIN OF FOUR CLOVER SPECIES ON GERMINATION IN SALINE CONDITIONS

Abstract

Climate change will signicantly undermine crop production, posing a serious threat to food security. Indeed, climatic factors are very favorable to the rise of salts, the concentration of the soil solution and the precipitation of salts in the root zone and the supercial horizon leading to salinization, which limits the rate of germination seeds. Pastoral plants are not escaped this problem. Effective adaptation in this sector will be of crucial importance. The present study deals with the tolerance of four clover plants, in Moroccan areas, subject to an increase in soil salinity during the last years. The effects of 4 levels of salinity, 0, 70, 140 and 220 mM NaCl, on four Trifolium species was conducted at germination. We + + also tested the effects of salts on Na and K accumulation during germination. An interesting result is the ability of T. isthmocarpum to germinate on 220 mM of NaCl despite being a glycophyte species. In addition, seeds from T. isthmocarpum showed, unlike other species tested, a high ability to recover their germination after NaCl exposure when stress conditions are alleviated. This indicates that T. isthmocarpum developed the mechanisms of salt tolerance in seeds to improve adaptation of this species to high salinity.