In order to analyse the effects of NaCl added to in vitro culture media on subsequent somaclonal variation exhibited by regenerated plants (R-0) and their R-1 and R-2 progenies, four procedures of in vitro selection differing in the stage of stress imposition were applied to mature embryo-derived calli obtained from three rice cultivars. Somaclonal variation was quantified at maturity for seven yield-related parameters on fertile plants cultivated in the absence of-salt. For most parameters, R-0, R-1 and R-2 plants performed less than the initial cultivar but their variability also strongly increased and maximal values were often recorded on tissue culture-derived plants. Somaclonal variation depended on genotype, morphological parameter analysed, NaCl dose and stage of stress imposition. Exposure to NaCl during proliferation phase decreased the extent of somaclonal variation in R-0 comparatively to plane regenerated from non-stressed calli, but it was still higher than somaclonal variation observed when NaCl was added to regeneration medium. Subsequent evolution of somaclonal variation in R-1 and R-2 populations suggested that NaCl added to proliferation medium mainly restricted the physiological component of somaclonal variation while such a trend was not observed when NaCl was added to regeneration or rooting media