Abstract

Ficus carica is one of the most important fruit species of Mediterranean countries. Egypt is one of the top countries in the world for the production of various cultivars of fig. The present work aimed to evaluate in vitro tolerance of five fig cultivars (i.e., Achtoy White, Masone Black, Zeiblly Red, Zeiblly Flair, and Shami Stihy) to NaCl on morphological characters and biochemical changes in multiplication stage. The in vitro shoots of fig cultivars were subcultured on Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 2 or 3 mg/L BAP and 0.5 mg/L 2iP and augmented with different concentrations of NaCl (0.0, 2000, 4000, 6000, 8000, 9000, 10000, 11000, and 12000 ppm) for 5 weeks under in vitro culture conditions. Number of newly formed shoots, shoot length, leaves number per shoot, necrosis %, fresh and dry weights, chlorophyll content, and relative water content were recorded at regular intervals. The results revealed that the Masone Black and Shami Stihy cultivars were excellent compared other cultivars, followed by Achtoy White, Zeiblly Red, and Zeiblly Flair cultivars. NaCl concentrations of more than 10000 ppm on Achtoy White and more than 11000 ppm of Zeiblly Red and Zeiblly Flair induced lethal effects. At 12000 ppm, NaCl had no adverse effect on the plantlets of cvs. Masone Black and Shami Stihy. Contents of Na+ and Cl- were increased and loss of K+ ions contents with increasing NaCl levels in all cultivars. In the present study, K+/Na+ ratio was the highest in Masone Black and Shami Stihy while Zeiblly Flair cultivar was the lowest in K+/Na+ ratio when the highest salt stress was applied.

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