Etudiant : BOULFIA IMANE

Filière : Master Biotechnologie, Ecologie et Valorisation des Phytoressources (BEVP)

Encadrant : Pr. KHABBACH ABDELMAJID

Annèe : 2026

Résumé : Soil salinization represents one of the most critical constraints to sustainable agriculture, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where limited water availability and increasing reliance on brackish irrigation water accelerate salt accumulation in the root zone. This study investigates the comparative germination dynamics and salt stress tolerance of three ecologically contrasted plant taxa: the cultivated glycophyte Zea mays L. (8 varieties/provenances), the wild xerophyte Peganum harmala L. (3 Moroccan provenances), and the cosmopolitan invasive weed Erigeron canadensis L. (3 global populations). Germination assays were conducted under a gradient of NaCl concentrations (75, 150, and 200 mM) and brackish water treatments, supplemented by a pot-based growth experiment for maize under progressively increasing salinity (2–9 mS/cm). Key germination parameters final emergence percentage (FEP), mean daily germination (MDG), daily germination speed (DGS), emergence energy (EE), emergence index (EI), and mean emergence time (MET), were calculated and subjected to one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD and LSD post-hoc tests. Results revealed significant interspecific variation in salt tolerance across all three taxa. In Z. mays, Moroccan provenances (Pre Rif and Jerf El Malha) demonstrated markedly superior germination and growth performance under saline conditions compared to commercial varieties, with Pre Rif maintaining FEP above 90% across all treatments.