Concentration effect of polyethylene glycol in evaluation of grain legumes for drought tolerance

The article covers selection of differentiating concentrations of PEG-6000 for assessing genetic resource collections of pea, chickpea and lentil. The germinability of 4 accessions of each crop in 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% PEG-6000 solutions was evaluated. The results showed that 25% PEG-6000 completely inhibited growth processes in all the crops; 5 and 10% PEG-6000 did not affect the germinability of lentil seeds; and the maximum differentiation was observed at an osmotic concentration of 20%. In chickpea, there were no seedlings even in 20% PEG-6000. In 15% PEG-6000, seeds of drought-tolerant accessions UD0500022 and Dnіprovskyi Vysokoroslyi only sprouted; and 5 and 10% solutions had the maximum differentiating effect. Pea germination in PEG-6000 solutions of different concentrations demonstrated that only one accession could germinate in 20 and 15% solutions. Two accessions gave seedlings in 10% PEG-6000, and 5% solution had almost no effect on the germinability of pea seeds.