Impact of salinity on seed germination and early establishment of field dodder (Cuscuta campestris Yunck.)

The aim of this study was to determine the reaction of Cuscuta campestris Yunck. at different salt concentrations, due to the possibility of predicting its spread to areas with saline soils. Seeds of field dodder were placed in Petri dishes filled with 5 mL of salt solution with different concentrations of NaCl (5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320 μM). Only water was added to the control treatment. The number of germinated seeds was recorded daily (germination rate), and the final percentage of germination and seedling length were measured after 18 days. All of the experiments were carried out in the dark, in an incubator at 25oC. Germination percentage was negatively affected by salt concentrations in Petri dishes. Increasing salt concentration tended to decrease the germination and seedling length. Final percentage of germination ranged from 0.0% (in 320 μM NaCl) to 82.1% (in 5 μM NaCl), while it was 92.5% in the controltreatment . Seedling length ranged from 2.2 cm to 8.5 cm and germination rate ranged from 7.7 to 20.1.