Effect of salinity stress on some physiological characteristics and photosynthetic parameters of several Iranian commercial pomegranate genotypes

In order to evaluate the salinity tolerance of six pomegranate genotypes including Malas Dane Ghermez Esfahan, Malas Yazdi, Shirin Shahvar, Meykhosh Yazd, Malas Saveh and Malas Yousofkhani, a greenhouse experiment was conducted as a factorial based on randomized complete block design with five salinity levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mM sodium chloride at Agricultural College of Lorestan University in 2015. The results showed that with increasing salinity, photosynthesis rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, leaf relative water content, relative chlorophyll content and mesophilic conduction (carboxylation efficiency) significantly decreased, and the degree of intercellular CO2 concentration and leaf water use efficiency increased significantly. Also, comparison of meanings showed that there was a significant difference between genotypes in measured factors. Finally, the results of research showed that the genotype of Malas Yousofkhani, due to its superiority in most traits related to salinity tolerance, has more tolerant than other genotypes to salinity induced by sodium chloride.