Germination and initial development of soybean seedlings and their transgenic derivatives in salt stress condition/Germinacao e desenvolvimento inicial de plantulas de soja convencional e sua derivada transgenica RR em condicoes de estresse salino

Brazil stands out as the largest worldwide producer of transgenic soybeans and has extended its production mainly to regions with saline soils, where there is accumulation of salts that interferes in seed germination and seedling development. The object of this research was to evaluate the effect of saline stress on the germination and initial development of soybean conventional seedling and its transgenic derivatives Roundup Ready (RR) submitted to different salinity conditions. For that purpose two lots of soybean seeds were used (CD 206 and CD 206 RR), the treatments consisted of the following levels of NaCl: 0, 5, 15, 30, 60 and 120mmol [L.sup.-1]. The evaluation of physiological seed quality was obtained by germination test, root and seedling length, seedling dry mass and volume of roots. The salt stress reduced germination of seeds of both genotypes, and the development of seedling of genotype transgenic RR is less sensitive in conditions of greater salinity (60 to 120mmol [L.sup.-1] of NaCl).