Chemical and Physical Influence of Sodic Soils on the Coleoptile Length and Root Growth Angle of Wheat Genotypes

Background And Aims: High exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP) and bulk density of sodic soils can reduce seedling emergence. This study examined variation in seedling coleoptile length and seminal root angle of wheat (Triticum aestivum. L) genotypes to determine whether these traits vary between genotypes that differ in their tolerance to sodic soils.

Methods: Wheat genotypes were grown in three different experiments. First, four wheat genotypes were grown using soils of three ESPs (4, 10 and 17 %) and secondly in soils of three different bulk densities (1.2, 1.4 and 1.5 g cm-3) and ESP 10 %. Thirdly, seedling coleoptile length and seminal root angle were determined for 16 genotypes grown in a soil of ESP 10 % and bulk density 1.2 g cm-2. Seminal root angle and coleoptile length measurements from the current study were compared with seedling emergence rate and force measured previously.

Key Results: The seedling coleoptile length of all genotypes decreased with increasing soil ESP and bulk density, but with no significant differences between genotypes. In contrast, seminal root angles differed significantly between genotypes, but were not significantly affected by ESP or bulk density. There was an inverse relationship between the seminal root angle of the 16 genotypes and seedling emergence rate (R2 = 0.89) and also between seminal root angle and seedling emergence force (R2 = 0.61).

Conclusions: Lack of significant variation in coleoptile length between genotypes suggests that this may not be a suitable characteristic to identify wheat tolerance to sodic conditions. However, a narrower seminal root angle was correlated with rate and force of seedling emergence, traits likely to improve establishment. The mechanism underlying this correlation is not yet clear. Genotypes with a narrow root angle had greater root depth. One possible mechanism might be that genotypes with narrow root angles were able to take up more soil moisture at depth, leading to a higher proportion of seedling emergence.