Özet:

Soil salinity is one of the critical factors that cause yield losses in tomato cultivation. Dealing with stress caused by salinity has recently become a global issue. It is known that chitosan has a role in reducing the harmful effects of abiotic stresses on plants. Chitosan, which is used as a non-toxic, biocompatible, biodegradable, and organic supplement, has attracted great interest in agricultural production in recent years. In this study, the effect of chitosan on morphological growth parameters and its role in healing seed damage in tomato seedlings under salt stress was investigated. The extent of salt damage in tomato seedlings and the effect of chitosan against it was evaluated by morphological parameters and DNA damage by Comet assay. The morphological effect of salt stress on seedlings was obtained from plant height, stem height, stem diameter, leaf area, and petiole length data. The level of DNA damage caused by stress was determined by the tail length, tail DNA % value, and tail moment, which are considered as indicators of DNA damage. It was determined that the applied chitosan had a positive effect on the morphological characteristics of tomato seedlings. It was determined that chitosan supplementation was effective in reducing DNA damage at some doses. Our study results determined that the applied salt caused stress in tomato seedlings depending on the dose and chitosan could be used effectively to protect tomato seedlings from the destructive effects of salt stress. It can also be used to detect DNA damage in future studies with the comet assay technique.