SELECTION OF A NACL-TOLERANT CITRUS PLANT

The objective of the work was to select Citrus plants more tolerant to elevated NaCl concentrations in the irrigation water. For this purpos e, unfertilized Troyer citrange ovules treated with a chemical mutagen ic agent (ethyl methane sulphonate) were cultured in vitro. Whole plan ts were regenerated from embryos developed in the nucellar tissue of t he ovule. The screening for salt tolerance was achieved by irrigating these plants with a nutrient solution containing 45 mM NaCl. Plants ob tained from vegetative propagation of the selected plant show faster g rowth, less leaf damage and lower concentrations of Cl- and Na+ in lea ves than the original clone with increasing NaCl levels in the nutrien t solution. In addition, the selected plant accumulated more Na+ in sh oots and roots and this was accompanied by a significant reduction in K+ concentration. It can be concluded that the selected plant restrict s the accumulation of Naf in leaves by concentrating Na+ in shoots and roots.