This research was carried out to find out capabilities of seven common bread wheat varieties Triticum aestivum L. (Bohooth-14, Bohooth-15, Ghonaimy, Hadramawt, Bohooth-3, Bohooth-37,and Sonalika) to induct callus and to determine its tolerant to different concentrations of sodium chloride (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 g/L.). It also aims to identify the appropriate salt concentration for subsequent selection process. Mature embryos of studied varieties were grown in MS+3 mg/ltr. 2,4-D and 30 g/L. sucrose with an average of 16 embryos/plate. Embryos were then incubated at 25±2 °C in the dark. Embryos of the seven varieties were able to form embryogenic callus at varying amounts the highest of which scored by Sonalika (1.54 g/plate) twice that realized by next variety (Bohooth-14), while Bohooth-3 was the least (0.3 g/plate). Most toxic concentrations of sodium chloride on wheat cells were 15 & 20 g/L which led to reduction of callus growth at 64-57% compared to the (zero) treatment. The selective concentration was 10 g/L., which can be used in the selection process. After three selection rounds, studied varieties showed some proportion variation of selected resistant cells to this concentration where the highest callus realized by Ghonamy c.v. (95.2%) and the lowest was achieved by the variety Bohooth-14 (44%).

Key Words :Callus, NaCl, salinity, selection, wheat