Influence of Salicylic Acid on Ion Distribution, Enzymatic Activity and Some Agromorphological Characteristics of Wheat under Salt-affected Soil

AFIELD experiment carried out to examine the effects of soil salinity on morphological and physiological characters of two wheat cultivars differing in salt tolerance and the modulation of ion distribution and activities of antioxidant enzyme by exogenous application of salicylic acid under salt-affected soil. The experiment was designed in split plot design. Two wheat cultivars including Sakha93 (salt-tolerant) and Gemmiza9 (salt-sensitive) were assigned in main plots. Three levels of salicylic acid including (0, 100 and 200 mg L^-1) were allocated to the subplots in 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons. Salt-tolerant cultivar (Sakha93) showed higher morphological and physiological characters than salt sensitive one (Gemmiza9). Exogenous application of salicylic acid maintained lower Na^+ concentration with higher K^+/Na^+ ratio in flag leaf blade in Sakha93 as compared to Gemmiza9. Exogenous application of salicylic acid increased K^+ and decreased Na^+ in Gemmiza9 as compared to untreated plants. Side by side, the improvement of ion distribution might be due to increment in activities of antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) by exogenous higher salicylic acid level (200 mg L^-1) in 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 seasons. It could be concluded that exogenous application of 200 mg SA L^-1 has effective impact in increasing yield-traits and grain yield under salt-affected soil condition.