The adverse effects of climate change and heightened soil salinity on agricultural production are definite. Halophytes serve to remove salts from soil effectively and economically. Consequently, the presented work has evaluated the impact of three halophytic species on salt-affected soil. The study used inter simple sequence repeats (ISSRs) and start codon targeted (SCoT) markers to examine the genetic variations. Field experiments progressed on salt-affected soils around Qarun Lake’s coastal region for two consecutive seasons (2019 and 2020). The soil and plants underwent analysis using established methodologies. The findings indicated that after the fifth cutting for the three halophytic species, there was a drop in salinity indices, implying an improvement in soil quality assessments. On the other hand, six ISSR and 10 SCoT primers amplified 96 and 190 bands with 84.14% and 88.29% polymorphism, respectively. Additionally, they demonstrated numerous positive and negative markers linked to some phenotypic traits. Polymorphic information content (PIC) values were 0.51 (ISSRs) and 0.48 (SCoT), indicating that these markers were moderately informative. Heterozygosity index (He) values were 0.59 (ISSRs) and 0.57 (SCoT), implying a substantial degree of genetic diversity present within the studied species.

Keywords: Halophytic species, forage production, bioethanol, remediation, ISSR, SCoT

Key findings: Leptochloa fusca was more effective in salinity remediation, having the highest productivity and protein content (CP), hence, considered a good source for forage production. Meanwhile, Sporobolus virginicus (Smyrna) produced the utmost lignocellulosic biomass, making it a potential candidate for bioethanol production in the future. Overall, the ISSR and SCoT markers generated reliable banding patterns to evaluate the genetic variation among halophytic species.