Chayon Goswami

Aluminium (Al) Tolerance Variability in Seven Wheat Cultivars: an Assessment of Al Toxicity in Wheat Chayon Goswami

A petri dish and hydrophonic culture experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of aluminum on seed germination, morphological characters and growth of wheat seedlings. The experiment comprised two levels of aluminum concentrations viz., 0 (control) and 250 ppm and seven wheat varieties viz., B1064, Sonalika, B20, B1059, Kanchan, B21 and B19. Application of 250 ppm aluminum had a profound influence on hypocotyl and epicotyl length, germination percentages, root and shoot length and fresh and dry mass production in wheat. Results indicated that germination percentage, hypocotyl and epicotyl length, root and shoot length, leaf length, fresh and dry mass plant-1 were greater in control than that of aluminum treatment indicating wheat seedlings are susceptible to aluminum stress. However, among the studie varieties, the reduction of dry mass due to aluminum was minimum in Sonalika (3.31% reduction over control) followed by B1059(6.19% reduction over control) indicating that Sonalika was more tolerant to aluminum toxicity than the other varieties while the varieties, B20 and B21 were more susceptible to aluminum stress.