Evaluation of drought tolerance of some selected Mahaleb genotypes in greenhouse conditions

Mahaleb is used as a rootstock for sweet cherries and sour cherries. In order to investigate the tolerance of different genotypes of Mahaleb to drought stress, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications in the greenhouse of the Horticultural Research Center of Khorasan Razavi Agricultural and Natural Resources Research Center. The experimental factors consisted of 10 genotypes and 4 drought stress levels (25, 50, 75 and 100% of field capacity). Result showed that all Mahaleb genotypes were affected by drought, but their response to stress were different. With increasing drought stress, proline and soluble carbohydrates increased and its content varied in different genotypes, so that DM-135, DM-164 and DM-69 genotypes produced the highest amount of proline and soluble carbohydrates under stress conditions. With increasing drought stress, survival rate, height and number of leaves decreased and this decrease was related to genotype type. In general, DM-69, DM-164 and DM-135 genotypes were identified as the most resistant genotypes, due to the existence of drought tolerance mechanisms and DM-277 was the most sensitive genotype.