Exploring the Potential of Nano-Priming and Magneto-Priming in Enhancing Drought Tolerance Potential of Wheat Seeds

Abstract

The current study was aimed to explore the effects of two priming treatments, Nano-Priming (NP) and Magneto-Priming (MP) on improving the drought tolerance potential in wheat. Study revealed increase in germination efficiency in both the priming treatments compared to control Unprimed (UP) seeds. NP seeds exhibited a significant improvement in parameters such as germination percentage, seedling length, and seedling vigor when compared to both MP and UP seeds. The impact of Drought Stress (DS) on photosynthetic efficiency measured using Chl a fluorescence parameters, revealed a drastic reduction in the number of active Reaction Centers (RC) per chlorophyll molecule, performance of water splitting complex at donor side of PSII (Fv/Fo) and plant Performance Index (PI) in UP and MP plants wheat plants. However, NP+DS plants seemed to have improved the efficiency of primary photochemistry of PSII by showing significantly lesser reduction in these parameters under DS, ultimately resulting in better growth. Furthermore, the investigation of the oxidative status of plants revealed a reduction in the activity of antioxidant enzymes in NP + DS plants, potentially linked to reduced levels of reactive oxygen species production when compared to UP + DS plants. These findings suggest NP as an effective yet simple way for augmenting the drought tolerance potential in wheat.