In the present study, the effects of salinity treatments (0, 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 7.5 ds/m) on pollen germination under In vitro condition and salinity treatments (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 ds/m) on seed germination of pistachio rootstocks: Beneh (Pistacia mutica F. &M.), P. vera L. cv. Qazvini and Sarakhs (wild pistachio) were investigated . It was founded that in all three rootstocks, rate of pollen and seed germination was decreased with an increase in salt concentration. The EC5O (EC at which germination rate was reduced 50% of the control) was adopted as an index for salinity tolerance. The order of salt tolerance for pollen and seed germination given by EC5O (ds/m) were as follows: pollen : Qazvini (3.77)> Beneh (3.76)> Sarakhs(3.09). Seed : Qazvini (16.32)> Sarakhs (13.77)> Beneh (11.1). Although, pollen and seed germination of Qazvini under salt stress were similar, but response of pollen and seed germination in both Sarakhs and Beneh were different. The results showed that clear differences exist between pistacia species when testing pollen and seed germination under salt stress condition. Also, pollen and seed germination tests can be used as effective and preliminary test in screening for salt tolerance in pistachio rootstocks.
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