Salt effects on seed germination and seedling emergence of two Acacia species

Germination is the first stage in plant life cycle confronted with soil salinity and because of expanded saline areas around the world it is important to determine salt effects on this stage. In this study, we report an in vitro procedure for studying germination of Acacia spp. under salt stress with different NaCl and KCl concentrations. Seeds of Acacia tortilis (Forssk.) Hayne and Acacia oerfota(Forssk) Schweinf after subjected to sulphuric acid and boiling water, were grown inL2 medium under eight salinity levels (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 mM) in a complete randomized design under laboratory conditions. Germination of both species decreased by increasing salinity. Both Acacia species showed higher tolerance to increased level of NaCl than to KCl.   Key words: In vitro culture, Acacia spp., NaCl, KCl, germination percentage, germination speed.