Effect of salinity and drought stress on morphological and biochemical properties of two Iranian fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) populations

In this study, micro propagation of two Iranian fenugreek populations and their morphological and biochemical responses to salinity and drought stresses in in vitro culture condition were conducted using factorial experiment in a completely randomized design in three replications. Different explant type (terminal bud, cotyledon and epicotyledon explant) were cultured in MS medium contain different concentration of plant growth regulators such as kin (0, 0.5 and 1 mg / l) and 2,4-D (0.5, 1 and 2 mg / l). Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1 mg/l kinetin and 2 mg/l 2,4-D showed the highest callus proliferation rate per explants in both populations. The highest amount of callus volume was obtained from the explants of the terminal bud. Proliferated calli from terminal bud explant were green and yellowish, from cotyledon were yellowish to white with soft texture, and the cotyledons were greenish and compact. The results of salinity stresses with different concentrations of sodium chloride (0, 70 and 120 mM) and drought stress with polyethylene glycol (0, 5 and 10%) showed that both stresses decreased callus growth and increased total protein, proline, catalase, peroxidase and trigonelin content in both populations. Trigonelin measurement showed that ‘Borazjan’ papulation had higher trigonelin content, in vitro, than ‘Ardestan’ papulation.