Abstract
The early stages of quinoa germination are sensitive to drought stress. For this purpose, a study entitled the effect of selenium in different concentrations on germination characteristics and some antioxidant enzymes of quinoa under drought stress conditions with polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000) was investigated. The first experimental factor was seed priming with selenium (from two sources: sodium selenate and selenium nanoparticles: SeNPs ? 33.4 nm) at 0.5, 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6 mg·L?1 concentrations, besides, no priming treatment was used as control. The second factor was drought stress with PEG 6000 in concentrations 0, –0.4, –0.8, and –1.2 MPa. Drought stress with accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) had a negative effect on most of the measured traits. In seeds that were primed with appropriate selenium concentrations, germination parameters and antioxidant enzyme activity as well as proline and protein content increased compared to the control treatment. Under conditions of severe stress (–1.2 MPa), the highest activity of catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) enzymes was observed in prime with selenium nanoparticles at concentrations of 4.5, 6.0 and 4.5 mg·L?1, respectively. Concentrations higher than 3 mg·L?1 of selenium nanoparticles and concentrations of 3 mg·L?1 sodium selenate had the highest accumulation of photosynthetic pigments under control (stress-free) conditions. The present study shows that selenium priming can reduce the harmful effects of drought stress on quinoa by altering germination properties and biochemical properties.
Highlights
Drastic changes in the climate, erratic precipitation, and rapid increases in global population have reduced crop production and endangered global food security
To assess the effect of seed priming with selenium (sodium selenate (NaSeO4)) and selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs ≈ 33.4 nm) on germination indices and biochemical characteristics of seedlings under drought stress a factorial experiment was conducted based on a completely randomized design with three replications
This study showed that application of sodium selenate and selenium nanoparticles significantly (p ≤ 0.01) improved the germination percentage of quinoa seeds under drought stress caused by PEG (Table 1)
Summary
Drastic changes in the climate, erratic precipitation, and rapid increases in global population have reduced crop production and endangered global food security. These changes will challenge the population’s needs and demand in the future (Magwanga et al 2018). The excessive increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under drought stress conditions causes oxidative damage and eventually plant death (Qureshi et al 2018). Plants show many responses to drought stress that depends on the type and plant species (Ul-Allah et al 2018). Seed priming consists of controlled hydration and drying of seeds to enhance rapid germination and sustained establishment under stress conditions (Dawood 2018)
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