Abstract :
The effects of water potential on germination and seedling growth of two varieties of lentil were studied in 2011.The varieties were Ziba (V1,microsperma) and ILL4400 (V2, macrosperma).Water potentials between 0 and –14 bars were obtained using polyethylene glycol 6000 solutions. At both varieties, an increase in water stress decreased germination percentage, germination rate, normal seedlings percentage, seedling dry weight, and root and shoot length of seedlings. Lowering the water potential to-2 and-5 bars caused a significant reduction in germination percentage of Ziba and ILL4400 , respectively. The tolerance threshold of V1 and V2 for 20% loss in NS% were –0.15 and –1.7 bars , respectively. Root to shoot ratio of seedlings for V1 and V2 decreased, when water potential decreased below -2 and -6 bars, respectively. The threshold of water stress for 20% loss in seedling dry weight was about -1.1 bars. The variety of ILL4400 Showed high tolerance to water stress than Ziba .
