Nano‐pyrite as a plant hormone regulator: Emulating seed hormopriming

Abstract

Abstract‘Pre‐sowing seed priming’ and ‘pre‐transplanting root priming’ are promising strategies to improve agriculture productivity. Farmers, seed production enterprises, and seedling producers constantly search for economic priming agents that help improve yield and crop health. Recently, several nanomaterials have emerged as economical seed and root priming agents, with nanoiron pyrite standing out as a particularly promising molecule. The observed enhancement in germination of nano‐pyrite treated seeds across various plant species indicate a shared underlying mechanism. We conducted evaluations of gibberellic acid (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) content in red radish and soybean seeds subjected to nano‐pyrite priming revealing a notable increase in the GA: ABA ratio compared to the control group. In addition, mature red radishes cultivated from nano‐pyrite primed seeds exhibited elevated anthocyanin content and a remarkable 25.46% increase in yield. The aqueous pyrite suspension utilised in the process generates trace peroxide, and we propose that this trace peroxide plays a crucial role in orchestrating the increased GA: ABA ratio, anthocyanin content, and crop yield. These results position nano‐pyrite as a plant hormone regulator, effectively mimicking the seed hormo‐priming strategy. Considering the widespread presence of pyrite in the earth's crust, using pyrite as a commercial seed and root priming agent emerges as a potentially sustainable approach to enhance food production.