Comprehensive evaluation, analysis of mechanisms and the prediction of salinity tolerance in pomegranate

•Bhagwa and Wounderful cultivars exhibited better inherent salinity tolerance.•Targeting Cl could be more promising to breed tolerant pomegranate cultivars.•WUE, SOD activity, cell turgor and membrane stability was the key predictors. There are gaps in our comprehension about irrigation water salini...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScientia horticulturae Vol. 313; p. 111918
Main Authors Pathania, Shashi, Bajaj, Amit, Mavi, Manpreet Singh, Choudhary, OP
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.04.2023
Subjects
CATPCA
Fuzzy analysis
Irrigation
Salinity
CATPCA
Irrigation
Fuzzy analysis
Salinity
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Summary:•Bhagwa and Wounderful cultivars exhibited better inherent salinity tolerance.•Targeting Cl could be more promising to breed tolerant pomegranate cultivars.•WUE, SOD activity, cell turgor and membrane stability was the key predictors. There are gaps in our comprehension about irrigation water salinity tolerance and the complex mechanisms involved especially in pomegranate. Therefore, the current study was conducted with six commercial cultivars (Jalore seedless, Mridula, Bhagwa, Phule Arakata, Ganesh-137 and Wonderful) under shade net conditions. In a pot culture experiment, about three months old, rooted cuttings were subjected to natural underground saline water irrigations (EC 1.5, 3.0, 4.5 and 6.0 dS m−1) at Punjab Agricultural University Research Station, Abohar, India. EC 6 dS m−1 was found to be the most appropriate salinity level for the evaluation. Salinity response index for different parameters was calculated with respect to good quality canal water (EC 0.12 dS m−1) and subjected to further analysis. The comprehensive evaluation index (D-value) for tested cultivars revealed the following order of salinity tolerance: Bhagwa > Wonderful > Mridula > Jalore Seedless > G-137 > Phule Arakata. Water use efficiency, superoxide dismutase activity, cell turgor and cell membrane stability were identified as predictors of salinity tolerance. We also observed that targeting Cl rather than Na could be more promising to breed salinity tolerant pomegranate cultivars. Empirical relationship between ‘D-value’ and the predictors was also established with greater probability of prediction.
ISSN:0304-4238
1879-1018
DOI:10.1016/j.scienta.2023.111918