Variation in Salt Tolerance Among Genetically Diverse Lines of Cultivated Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

High salinity levels constitute a major concern in agricultural settings, especially in irrigated fields, with an estimated 45 million hectares of irrigated land affected. Plants grown under salt stressed conditions may suffer from reduced ability to uptake water, cell turgor loss, cell toxicity, and even eventual whole plant death. Cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) is an important oilseed and confectionery crop, and its ability to resist salt stress is not well characterized. Therefore, the objective of this study was to screen different genetically diverse accessions of cultivated sunflower for salt tolerance. We hydroponically grew 9 lines of H. annuus in a common garden greenhouse environment. We then applied a sodium chloride solution (at either a 100, 200, or 300 micromolar concentration of sodium chloride) to the plants at the seedling stage to induce a salt stress. We measured plant growth under these new conditions for several weeks. Plants grown under these conditions showed variation in their response to the salt solutions, indicating the potential for utilizing diverse genotypes when growing crop sunflower under saline conditions.