BIOINFOLET 13 ( 2) : 298 - 302 , 2016

SCREENING OF CHICKPEA GENOTYPES AGAINST SALINITY STRESS

M. Y. Dudhe and J. Kumar
Division of Genetics, Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi-100012 (India)

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ABSTRACT
The performance of chickpea genotypes under salinity stress was
evaluated. Pusa 1103, DG 72 and KWR 108 gave consistent performance for all
root nodules related attributes, and those were regarded as salinity stress
tolerant genotypes. The genotypes SAKI 9516, DG 54 and Annigiri were
considered as salinity susceptible genotypes. Tolerant genotype Pusa 1103, DG
72 and KWR 108 recorded higher plant biomass, relative water content and
membrane stability index, while low sodium to potassium ratio under salinity
stress. All these genotypes yielded more than the susceptible genotypes under
salinity stress. Hence, it is concluded that, salinity tolerant genotypes should
possess characteristics like higher plant biomass, relative water content,
membrane stability index and low sodium to potassium ratio, to achieve higher
seed yield under salinity stress.
Key words: Chickpea, Salinity stress, tolerant, susceptible, seed yield
Introduction
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is highly
sensitive crop to salinity (Ashraf and Waheed,
1993). However, few cultivars, partially tolerant
to salinity have been developed (Dudhe,
2008). In India variety Karnal Chana 1 (CSG
8962) developed by Soil Salinity Research
Institute during 1998 is the only example of
genotype, tolerant to mild salinity
(Annonymous, 1997). Earlier researchers
proposed various techniques for screening of
chickpea genotypes under salinity stress
based on morpho-physiological observations
(Amin et. al., 1994, Dua, 1998, Gholipoor et.
al., 2000; Babber, et. al., 2000; Rao et al.,
2006). Further efforts are, however, required to
identify suitable technique for screening of
chickpea genotypes under salinity stress in
order to develop tolerant genotype. Hence,
present investigation was undertaken to
screen chickpea genotypes under salinity
stress on the basis of morpho-physiological
and agronomic parameters.
Materials and methods
The experimental material comprised

of 30 chickpea genotypes obtained from

Pulses Research Unit, Division of Genetics,
Indian Agricultural Research Institute New
Delhi. These genotypes were planted in plots
following Randomized Block Design with two
replications, under salinity and as control.
From each pot 5 plants were maintained with 8
cm distance between them. Chickpea seeds
were surface sterilized with 30 % (w/v) H202 for
2 min, rinsed with sterile water and inoculated
with rhizobium ( strain F-75 ) procured from the
Division of Microbiology I.A.R.I. New Delhi. In
order to impose salinity the genotypes were
irrigated with 50mM NaCl at interval of 7 days.
After 40 days of germination the pots were
broken and soil was removed by water spray
method to avoid damage to the roots and data
on various morphological traits were recorded.
Based on first year experimental results, 5
genotypes with high and low values for
nodules related attributes were selected and
validation experiment was undertaken. Salinity
indices like Sodium and potassium ratio, Leaf
relative water content (RWC), Leaf membrane
stability index (MSI) and seed yield/plant were
taken into consideration to analyze
performance of the genotypes. Estimation of
Sodium and potassium were carried out by

BIOINFOLET
flame photometeric method of Tandon (1995).
Leaf relative water content (RWC) was
estimated according to method of Weatherley
(1950). Leaf membrane stability index (MSI)
was determined according to the method of
Premchandra et al., (1990) as modified by
Sairam (1994). The mean values were used for
further statistical analysis. Shannon diversity t
test was undertaken described by Hutcheson
(1970).

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Results and discussion

Under salinity stress there was
sufficient decrease in mean shoot, root and
plant biomass per plant (Table1). Under
salinity stress the genotypes BGD 72 (5.880g)
and SBD 377 (4.658g) recorded highest
biomass per plant. Chickpea genotypes i.e.
DG 72, KWR-108 recorded a greater number
of nodules per plant when compared with
control. The genotypes which produced
comparatively good number of nodules under
salinity stress were Pusa 391, Pusa 1103,
Pusa 1075, BGD 72, Green 112, L 550 and
Pusa 256 indicating relatively higher tolerance
for salinity stress. The genotypes which
showed more than 70 per cent reduction in
mean number of nodules per plant were
Annigiri, DG 46, DG 54, SAKI 9516 and SBD
377. These genotypes were poor to withstand
stress and considered as susceptible to
salinity stress. Our results are in agreement
with the earlier reports that the tolerance to
salinity stress in chickpea is related to higher
nodulation capacity that helps in maintaining a
higher level of nitrogen fixation even under
salinity stress [Tejera et. al., (2006)]. The
genotypes which yielded highest mean nodule
mass and mean single nodule mass were
Pusa 1103, DG 51, DG 72, KWR 108, Pusa
256 and Pusa 372 and better performer under
salinity stress for nodule mass. While poor
performers for the same traits were Annigiri,
Averodhi, DG 54, ICCV 10 and SAKI 9516.
Rao et. al., (2006) reported DG 72 as tolerant
and Annigiri as susceptible genotypes based
on different physiological studies. Ram et. al.,
(1989) studied varying levels of salinity
decreasing 5the nodule weight. Singh et. al.,

299
(2005) observed almost identical pattern of salt
response for nodule number and weight per
nodule for desi and kabuli chickpea types.
Singh et. al., (2005) concluded that nodule
number can serve as a useful selection marker
for ascertaining salt stress tolerance in
chickpea. Considering the above fact, the
genotypes Pusa 1103, DG 72 and KWR 108
were regarded as tolerant to salinity stress.
Similarly genotypes SAKI 9516, DG 54 and
Annigiri which were inefficient for nodule
related attributes were regarded as salinity
stress susceptible genotypes.
In order to confirm the above results
obtained for salinity stress, the identified
genotypes were subjected to understand their
performance with the help of RWC, MSI, Na+ /
K+ ratio and yield per plant. It was noticed that
salinity stress tolerant genotypes recorded
higher shoot, root and plant biomass under
salinity condition, while susceptible genotypes
exhibited less biomass as compared to
tolerant genotypes, since the observations for
second year's investigation were similar to the
observations recorded in the previous year.
Thus, the selection of genotypes, based on
nodulation characteristics was justified
(Table 2). Genotype PUSA1103 recorded
highest RWC and MSI % under both the
conditions (Table 2). Based on Shannon
diversity t test, all genotypes showed variability
(except for Na+ / K+ ratio) which may be due to
the fact that Na+ / K+ ratio is prone to
experimental errors. The chickpea genotypes
which were identified as tolerant in earlier
experiment showed higher RWC and MSI than
the susceptible, which again justifies the
results obtained during previous year.
Tipirdamaz and Cakirlar (1990) observed
decrease in RWC of chickpea genotypes
under salinity stress. Na+: K+ ratio might serve
as an indicator of crop's tolerance to stress as
increase in the concentration of Na+ is
generally associated with a decrease in K+
(Alien et. al., 2000). Our results showed an
increase in sodium content at salinity
treatment when compared with control. The
susceptible genotypes DG 54 and SAKI 9516
recorded higher Na+/K+ ratio than tolerant
genotypes. However, the tolerant genotype

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300
Pusa 1103(12.90g), DG 72(14.30g) and KWR
108(12.6 5g) exhibited more yield per plant
than the susceptible genotypes under salinity
stress. It indicates that the salt tolerant
genotypes should possess characteristics like
higher plant biomass, higher relative water
content, higher membrane stability index, low
sodium to potassium ratio and high seed yield.
Ram et. al., (1989) in a pot trial with C.
arietinum, under varying levels of
salinity
obtained low seed and biological yields over
control. Rao et. al., (2006) showed decrease in
yield and yield attributes with an increase in
salinity level. They also recorded higher Na+/K+
ratio in susceptible genotype than the tolerant
genotypes. Hence, it is concluded that Pusa
1103, DG 72 and KWR 108 genotypes can be
considered as tolerant genotypes to salinity
stress and can be utilized for the development
of salinity tolerant genotypes in chickpea.
Acknowledgements
The first author is thankful to Dr.
Bhupinder Singh, Principal Scientist, Division
of Plant Physiology, IARI, New Delhi for
guideline and providing facility to conduct the
research.
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Table 1: Comparative performance of 30 chickpea genotypes under control and salinity stress for different physiological
parameters

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301

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Table 2: Comparative performance of the selected genotypes under control and salinity stress for different parameters

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302