Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
International Journal of Agriculture, Environment and Food Sciences, cilt.5, sa.2, ss.203-212, 2021 (Hakemli Dergi)
In this study, grafted and ungrafted pepino (Solanum muricatum Ait.) plants were tested under different saline
conditions. The nutrient solution experiment was conducted within October – November 2016, by employing the
technique of Deep-Water Culture (DWC) in an entirely operated automatically climate chamber found in the Plant
Physiology Laboratory of Erciyes University, Agriculture Faculty, Kayseri, Turkey. Plants were examined under
three various salt levels (i.e., 1 dS m-1, 4 dS m-1 and 8 dS m-1) by growing them in a 8 liter pots loaded constantly
in an aerated Hoagland solution. The study was organized with completely randomized block design through three
repetitions. The climate chamber study was performed to investigate effects of salt stress on plant growth, shoot- root
fresh- dry weights, photosynthesis, leaf area formation, chlorophyll content of leaf (SPAD), leaf and root electrolyte
leakage, total length of root, volume of root, and diameter of root in grafted and ungrafted pepino plants. The
results showed that shoot growth, root morphological and leaf physiological responses were considerably (p<0.001)
influenced by various levels of salt conditions at the nutrient solution. Increased salt level of the nutrient solution
decreased significantly root and shoot growth, area of leaf, photosynthetic activity of both grafted and ungrafted
plants. Irrespective of being grafted, significant declines were observed in shoot fresh weight (23.6%, 52.1%), root
fresh weight (24.8%, 52.8%), leaf area (21.3%, 51.9%), shoot dry weight (24.3%, 53.0%), root dry weight (15.4%,
45.1%), SPAD (5.7%, 18.7%), photosynthesis rate (24.6%, 42.1%), total root length (6.7%, 16.4%), and root volume
(3.8%, 5.8%) of pepino plants under 4 dS m-1 salt applications and 8 dS m-1 salt applications, respectively. Grafting
promoted growth of plant in pepino plants under both control and saline conditions, furthermore it was noticed
that under saline conditions biomass production of both grafted and ungrafted ones were significantly depressed.
Grafted plants produced 54.1%, 43.0% and 9.6% higher shoot fresh weight; 52.0%, 42.0% and 12.8% higher root
fresh weight; 52.5%, 40.7% and 8.7% higher leaf area; 60.0%, 46.6% and 11.1% higher shoot dry weight; 68.8%,
36.0% and 29.3% higher root dry weight; 19.9%, 9.2% and 8.2% higher SPAD; 8.0%, 5.1% and 10.8% higher
photosynthesis rate; 8.6%, 3.6% and 6.6% higher total root length; 3.1%, 6.7% and 2.4% higher root volume than
ungrafted plants under 1 dS m-1, 4 dS m-1 and 8 dS m-1 salt applications, correspondingly. Overall, our study showed
that the effectiveness of grafting with respect to expansion of plants growth and development under salinity. Grafting
was demonstrated to be an effective mean to achieve this goal.