Finger millet is an important cereal that is grown in semi-arid and arid regions of East-Africa. Salinity stress is a major environmental impediment for the crop growth and production. This study aimed to understand the physiological and biochemical responses to salinity stress of six Kenyan finger millet varieties (GBK043137, GBK043128, GBK043124, GBK043122, GBK043094, GBK043050) grown across different agroecological zones under NaCl-induced salinity stress (100, 200 and 300 mM NaCl). Seeds were germinated on the sterile soil and treated using various concentrations of NaCl for 2 weeks. Early-seedling stage of germinated plants were irrigated with the same salt concentrations for 60 days. The results indicated depression in germination percentage, shoot and root growth rate, leaf relative water content, chlorophyll content, leaf K⁺ concentration, and leaf K⁺/Na⁺ ratios with increased salt levels and the degree of increment differed among the varieties. On the contrary, the content of proline, malonaldehyde, leaf total proteins, and reduced sugar increased with increasing salinity. At the same time, the leaf Na⁺ and Cl⁻ amounts of all plants increased substantially with increasing stress levels. Clustering analysis placed GBK043094 and GBK043137 together and these varieties were identified as salt-tolerant based on their performance. Taken together, our findings indicated a significant varietal variability for most of the parameters analysed. The superior varieties identified could be used as promising genetic resources in future breeding programmes directed towards development of salt-tolerant finger millet hybrids. Further analysis at genomic level needs to be undertaken to better understand the genetic factors that promote salinity tolerance in finger millet.

中文翻译：

---

六指小米植物对盐分胁迫生理生化反应的品种差异。

指黍是一种重要的谷物，生长在东非半干旱和干旱地区。盐胁迫是作物生长和生产的主要环境障碍。本研究旨在了解在 NaCl10 和 320 mM 盐分胁迫下生长在不同农业生态区的 6 个肯尼亚指黍品种（GBK043137、GBK043128、GBK043124、GBK043122、GBK043094、GBK043050）对盐度胁迫的生理和生化反应。氯化钠）。种子在无菌土壤上发芽并使用不同浓度的 NaCl 处理 2 周。发芽植物的早期苗期用相同的盐浓度灌溉60天。结果表明，发芽率、地上部和根系生长速度、叶片相对含水量、叶绿素含量、叶片钾含量降低⁺浓度、叶片K ⁺ /Na ⁺比值随盐分含量的增加和增加程度在品种间存在差异。相反，脯氨酸、丙二醛、叶总蛋白和还原糖的含量随着盐度的增加而增加。同时，叶片 Na ⁺和 Cl ^-所有植物的数量随着胁迫水平的增加而显着增加。聚类分析将 GBK043094 和 GBK043137 放在一起，根据它们的性能，这些品种被确定为耐盐。综上所述，我们的研究结果表明所分析的大多数参数存在显着的品种变异性。鉴定出的优良品种可作为未来育种计划中的有前途的遗传资源，用于开发耐盐的指谷杂种。需要在基因组水平上进行进一步分析，以更好地了解促进手指小米耐盐性的遗传因素。