THE EFFECTIVENESS OF GRAFTING TO IMPROVE SALTTOLERANCE OF SENSITIVE MELON WHEN THE TOLERANT MELON ISUSED AS ROOTSTOCK

Melon cultivars that are sensitive and tolerant to salinity were reciprocally grafted andplants were grown under salinity and control conditions in the glasshouse. Growing culturewas vermiculite and plants were irrigated by the complete nutrient solution. Thirty days oldmelon plants, grafted and ungrafted were subjected to salinity stress during 25 days with100mM NaCI. Some physiological parameters were investigated. Grafting on the tolerantmelon increased the responses of the sensitive melon to salinity in comparison to theungrafted one. The shoot fresh weight and leaf area were increased by 27%, leaf waterpotential was increased by 65%, leaf membrane injury index was decreased by 13 andstomatal conductance was increased by 18%. Other parameters like chlorophyll content, leaftemperature, mineral content (Na, K, Ca, and Cl) of the leaf and root, antioxidative enzymeactivities were also investigated. All results were discussed in the meeting in Portugal.