Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. ssp. durum) is a global staple food crops. However, saline soil reduces the production of durum wheat in a lot of countries including Tunisia. This problem would be more severe as soil salinization ascribed by the global climate changes and worldwide water deficiencies. To overcome this circumstance, we performed two experiments related to salinity stress tolerance of durum wheat. Two Tunisian durum wheat cultivars (‘Om Rabia’, ‘Mahmoudi’) were applied to examine the reaction to salt stress. At the third leaf stage, salt stress was treated by submerging the pots into 500 mM NaCl for 5 mins everyday instead of irrigation in greenhouse. The treatment was applied for 1 week and their tolerances to salt stress were determined by comparing their growth parameters to the control plants. Total RNA was extracted and Quantitative reverse transcript PCR (qRT-PCR) using the genes linked with the salt tolerance was performed. The plant height and leaf chlorophyll content were reduced during salt stress treatment in both cultivars. The growth parameters of ‘Om Rabia’ was reduced less than that of ‘Mahmoudi’. The transcription level of the genes linked with the salt tolerance was greater in ‘Om Rabia’ than in ‘Mahmoudi’. These results will be fruitful to future breeding program for salt tolerant tetraploid durum wheat.

• Sang Heon Kim(Department of Biosystems and Biotechnology, Korea University)
• Inès Yacoubi(Centre de biotechnologie de Sfax (CBS), Sfax, Tunisia)
• Yong Weon Seo(Department of Biosystems and Biotechnology, Korea University) Corresponding Author