Effects of Freezing Stress on Electrolyte Leakage of Safflower Genotypes

Freezing stress affected some vital processes of plant, and causing the disturbance on plant growth. In order to study the effect of freezing stress on electrolyte leakage (EL) of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) a factorial experiment carried out using six safflower genotypes (k.w.16, k.w.6, k.w.3, line 295, zarghan 295 and IL-111) and six freezing temperatures (0,-4,-8,-12,-16,-20 0C) on the base of completely randomized design with three replications in Fall 2006. For acclimation, potted plants were grown in natural conditions till 5-7 leaf stage and then, the plants were frozen according to the freezing temperature (FT) regimes. Cell membrane integrity was evaluated through EL and also lethal temperature 50 (LT50) according to the EL percentage of samples were determined. The effects of FT and genotypes on EL and LT50 were significant (P