Abstract
Adverse environmental conditions at planting, such as cold temperature or water limitation, can lead to a reduced level of seed germination and plant establishment for cotton. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma (CAP) treatment of cotton seeds prior to planting may help alleviate this problem. CAP is ionised gas that has a range of biological activities due to the formation of a mix of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), excited molecules, charged particles and UV photons. Our results show that a 27 minutes CAP treatment using air can significantly increase water absorption of the seed, and improve warm germination, metabolic chill test germination and chilling tolerance in cotton. We also observe that the beneficial effect of CAP treatment is long-lasting and stable as improved germination activity is still seen when treatment occurs 4 months before germination testing, suggesting that future large-scale industrial seed plasma treatments may still be effectively applied well (months) before the seed planting. We conclude that CAP treatment is a promising new tool for use in the cotton industry that has the potential to significantly improve plant establishment in a wider range of environmental conditions.
Highlights
Planted seeds require the highest probability of survival and plants need to grow as efficiently as possible to help support improved productivity to meet the increasing demands of society for both food and fibre
This study investigated the suitability of cold plasma treatments to improve germination success of acid-delinted black cotton seeds
Cotton seeds were exposed to a range of different cold plasma treatments using compressed air or argon gas
Summary
Planted seeds require the highest probability of survival and plants need to grow as efficiently as possible to help support improved productivity to meet the increasing demands of society for both food and fibre. There are currently several approaches, including treatment with chemical sanitizers[2], organic and inorganic acids[3], antibiotics[4], biocontrol bacteria[5] and hot water[6,7], in addition to genetic modification of the seeds[8], that support crop establishment. These treatments are not always efficient enough in reducing pathogens. Such species can interact with the seed surface and partially penetrate into the seed, thereby stimulating the biochemical processes required for seed germination
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