Abstract: Three soybean varieties i.e. Jidou 12， Zhechun No.4 and Tianlong No.1 were used in this research to study the effects of salt treatment on soybean seed germination and seedling growth. Results showed that high concentration of salt significantly inhibited the seed germination， and the inhibitory effects varied significantly among varieties. Soybean seedlings were irrigated with 100 mmol·L-1 NaCl 1 time at twoleavesoneshoot stage and after 2 days， respectively. Salt stress conditions， leaf chlorophyll content， root activity and dry mass weight were all decreased， the MDA content， POD activity， SOD activity and free proline content were increased， and the range of variations varied among soybean varieties. The data from both seed germination experiment and seedling experiments inferred that Jidou 12 had better salt tolerant ability than the others.

Key words: soybean, salt stress, germination, seedling, physiological index