Morphological changes occuring in some potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) varieties growed under in vitro culture conditions and salinity (NaCl) stress

This research was carried out in Erzurum Eastern Anatolia Agricultural Research Institute Tissue Culture Laboratory with 4 replications according to the "Random Plots Trial Design". In the study, single node cut explants of Agria and Can potato cultivars were used and NaCl was added to MS medium at concentrations of 0; 250; 500; 750; 1000; 1500 and 2000 mg/l. Plantlets were kept in long day photoperiod (16 hours light, 8 hours dark) conditions for 6 weeks. In plantlets; plant height (cm), plant fresh and dry weight (g), number of nodes and leaves, leaf width and length (mm), stem diameter (mm), root length (mm) and root number (piece) were measured. According to the results obtained, it was determined that the longest plant height was obtained from the control (22,26 cm) group, and that the Can variety (18,79 cm) produced longer plantlets than the Agria variety (13,90 cm). The highest root numbers were obtained from the variety Can (67,99) and containing 250 mg/l salt (60,40 units). The longest roots were obtained from the control group (9,56 cm) and the Can variety (8,22 cm). According to all these data, it was determined that Can cultivar was more tolerant to salty environments than Agria cultivar, but vegetative growth was negatively affected due to increasing salt concentration.