Effects of salt stress on photosystem II efficiency and CO2 assimilation in two syrian barley landraces

Abstract

Gas exchange and chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence measurements were made to study the effect of salinity stress (120 mmol NaCl) on the photosynthetic activity of two Syrian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) landraces, Arabi (A.) Aswad and A Abiad. Our work provides important information on the detection of salt stress-induced changes in the two cultivars of barley used, since we measured, in parallel, both gas exchange and Chl fluorescence. Early reactions of the photosynthetic apparatus of barley plants must play a key role in their tolerance to salt stress. We expect extension of this research to be helpful in solving the salinity problem and other environmental challenges facing us.