SALT SENSITIVITY AND SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL MECHANISMS OF ADAPTATION TO SALT STRESS IN CAMELINA

Salinity is the most important abiotic stress factor that negatively affects agricultural produc-tion and quality. It necessitates a wider introduction of resistant species and the development of high-yielding varieties, especially in salinity-affected areas. Camelina is a plant that has an effective structure against abiotic stress factors. The research was carried out to determine the physiological and chemical changes caused by different salt concentrations in the camelina plant, and the salt concentration to which camelina is most sensitive. The research was carried out in greenhouse conditions. PI-650142 camelina genotype was used as the plant material, and 6 different NaCl concentrations (0, 35, 70, 140, 210 and 200 mM) were used as salt treat-ment. Plant height, leaf area, plant water content, relative water content, membrane permea-bility, amount of chlorophyll and carotenoids and biomass accumulation were evaluated. As a result, it was found that the applied NaCl doses showed significant differences on all the parameters evaluated. It has been determined that plants can tolerate salt stress up to 140 mM NaCl concentration, and there were serious negative changes in plant height, the weight of plant parts that make up the biomass, total biomass, leaf parameters and membrane permeability above the 140 mM NaCl concentration. These findings reveal that up to a certain level (140 mM NaCl concentration) in regions with salt stress, the camelina plant can be grown without encountering a serious problem in terms of morphological and physiological adaptation mechanisms.