Abstract
Soil salinity adversely affects large areas of farmland globally. Consequently, it is increasingly important to develop molecular and agricultural solutions for improving saline tolerance of important crops. We aimed to evaluate the behavior of seven selected wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum) from different parts of Saudi Arabia under different conditions of irrigation with Red Sea water to study their saline tolerance and genetic diversity. Random amplified polymorphic (RAPD) markers were used to fingerprint closely related wheat cultivars, and a primer was identified that produced clear bands in all cultivars. Plants were grown in physiological screening units arranged in a completely random design with five replicates and different concentrations of sea water (1.6, 3.1, 6.3, 12.5, 25.0, 50.0, and 100%). Various germination parameters were screened, such as whole weight, shoot length, root length, shoot weight and root weight under various experimental conditions. Cultivar C6 displayed the maximum salt tolerance to 50% sea water. Cultivars C2 and C7 produced recovering effects in comparison to others. Cultivar C3 similarly showed better results in up to 25% sea water. Our results provide some guidelines to local farmers and plant breeders for developing wheat cultivars with enhanced performance under adverse saline conditions.