Effect of some osmoregulators or plant growth substances on growth and leaflet anatomy of pea plants under saline conditions

Using calcium chloride (Cal), thiamine (Thi) and salicylic acid (SA) are somewhat cheap and fast procedure for promoting growth and yield of crops under saline conditions. Consequently a pot experiment was undertook to assess the effect of methods of application and concentrations of Cal, Thi or SA on pea growth and leaflet anatomical characteristics under salt stress condition. There was highly important decrease in pea growth represented as plant height, shoot fresh and dry weights, number of leaves per plant and leaf area per plant under salinity stress. Application of Cal, Thi and SA caused an increase in plant growth under control or low salinity level. Meanwhile, under moderate and high salinity levels, application of osmoregulators or plant growth substances, in particular, 100 mg/l SA as seed soaking plus shoot spraying counteracted the harmful effect of salinity levels due to increasing all mentioned characters as compared to untreated plants under corresponding salinity level. Anatomically, expanding salinity levels declined thickness of midrib, leaflet blade, palisade and spongy parenchyma and vascular bundle. Application of osmoregulators or plant growth substances and their interactions with salinity increased all the above mentioned parameters in both nonsalinized and salinized plants. It could be suggested to spray plants grown under salinity stress with osmoregulators or plant growth substances to overcome destructive effect of salinity.