Differential Response of Chickpea Genotypes Under Salt Stress

The study was carried out to study the effect of salt stress on the total ascorbate, reduced glutathione, proline and protein contents in salt tolerant (SKUA-06, SKUA-07) and salt sensitive (SKUA-04, SKUA-05) genotypes of chickpea. Fifteen-day-old plants were treated with different concentrations of NaCl (0, 50 and 100 mM). Observations were recorded on the 1st, 3rd and 5th days after treatment. Significant genotypic variation was observed in response to different salt concentrations. In salt-tolerant genotypes the total ascorbate, reduced glutathione (GSH), proline and protein contents increased with the increase in salt concentration; whereas in salt-sensitive genotypes there was significant reduction in all these parameters under high salinity except in proline, which did not show any change when compared to control. The salt tolerance could be attributed to the increase in non-enzymatic antioxidants, proline and protein content.