Abstract
Two cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) with differential salinity tolerance were compared by evaluating the growth attributes, pigment composition and accumulation of Na
+
, K
+
, Zn
2+
, Fe
2+
, Mn
2+
and proline. Wheat cultivars Al-Moiaya (AM) (salt tolerant) and Habbe-Druma (HD) (salt sensitive) were subjected to four levels of salinity (1.21 dS m
−1
, 4.4 dS m
−1
, 8.8 dS m
−1
and 13.2 dS m
−1
) in factorial combinations with three drought stress (FC 30%, FC 60% and FC 90%) treatments in a randomized complete block design. Plant dry weight, leaf area ratio (LAR), soluble protein and total chlorophyll (Chl) content were higher in AM than HD. Salt-tolerant AM maintains a higher K
+
/ Na
+
ratio and thereby is able to grow better than the salt-sensitive HD under both the stresses. The lower foliar Na
+
in AM resulted in retention of higher Chl content, reflected in the strong positive correlations between plant ion status and Chl contents (Na
+
-Chl r
2
= 0.83; Chl- Fe
2+
r
2
= 0.76; Zn
2+
r
2
= 0.93 and Mn
2+
r
2
= 0.88). In conclusion, our results suggested that the K
+
/Na
+
ratio, exclusion of Na
+
and ion homeostasis play much more important roles in the tolerance to salinity and drought stress than the compatible osmolyte, proline.