Comprehensive Evaluation of Salt Tolerance of Cotton Germplasm Resources at Germination Stage

Objective To identify and evaluate the salt tolerance of 180 upland cotton germplasm resources at germination stage, screen excellent germplasm.

Methods In this study, 150 mmol·L⁻¹ NaCl solution was used to simulate salt stress, and 180 germplasm resources were identified and screened for salt tolerance during seed germination. The salt tolerance of 180 germplasm resources was evaluated by principal component analysis and membership function method.

Results Four comprehensive indexes were obtained by principal component analysis, and the comprehensive evaluation D value of salt tolerance was calculated according to the weight. The 180 germplasm resources were divided into five categories by cluster analysis.

Conclusion There were significant differences in relative germination potential and relative germination rate among 180 germplasm resources under salt stress. Ten salt-tolerant materials and 31 salt-sensitive materials were obtained by screening.