Influence of seed priming on seed germination, seedling growth, peroxidase activity, proline and total soluble sugar content of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) under salinity stress

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of seed priming on seed germination and salinity tolerance of pearl millet seedlings. A completely randomized design in a 2x2x5 factorial scheme with four replications of 100 seeds each was used. Seeds of two pearl millet accessions, IP 14294 (tolerant) and IP 17862 (susceptible) were primed using homobrassinolide, triacontanol, salicylic acid, potassium nitrate and water (hydropriming). Primed seeds were subjected to salt stress of 0 and 150 mM NaCl. Salicylic acid priming improved the salinity tolerance in both the genotypes significantly by increasing the peroxidase activity (0.57 µmol ml-1 min-1), proline (4.22 µmol g-1) and total soluble sugar content (16.25 mg g-1) as compared to hydropriming. Significantly highest seed germination (85.44%) was observed in salicylic acid primed seeds and lowest was recorded in hydroprimed seeds (80.63%). However, remaining chemicals also had positive effect on both the genotypes compared to hydroprimg.