Fig (Ficus carica) is one of the most important fruit species of Mediterranean countries. Egypt is one of the top countries in the world for the production of various cultivars of fig. The present work aimed to evaluate in vitro tolerance of five fig (Ficus carica L.) cultivars (i.e., Achtoy White, Masone Black, Zeiblly red, Zeiblly Flair and Shami Stihy) to NaCl on morphological characters and biochemical changes in multiplication stage. The shoots of fig cultivars were sub-cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2 or 3 mg L-1 BAP and 0.5 mg L-1 2iP and augmented with different concentrations of NaCl (0.0, 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000 and 12000 ppm) for five weeks under in vitro culture conditions. Number of newly formed shoots, shoot length, leaves number per shoot, necrosis %, fresh and dry weights, chlorophyll content, relative water content were recorded at regular intervals. The results revealed that the Masone Black and Shami Stihy cultivars were super compared other cultivars followed by Achtoy White, Zeiblly red and Zeiblly Flair cultivars. NaCl at concentrations of more than 10000 ppm of Achtoy White and more than 11000 ppm of Zeiblly red and Zeiblly Flair induced lethal effects on all measured under study. At 12000 ppm NaCl had no adverse effect on the plantlets of cvs. Masone Black and Shami Stihy. Contents of Na+, Cl- were increased incrementally and loss of K+ ions contents with increasing NaCl levels in all cultivars. In this study, K+/Na+ ratio was the highest in Masone Black and Shami Stihy while, Zeiblly Flair cultivar was the lowest in K+/Na+ ratio when the highest salt stress was applied.
Key words: Fig (Ficus carcia L.), micropropagation, salinity, NaCl, proline, chlorophyll, mineral composition
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