Seed priming as a promising technique to improve growth, chlorophyll, photosynthesis and nutrient contents  in cucumber seedlings

Ali ANWAR; Xianchang  YU; Yansu LI

doi:10.15835/nbha48111806

Authors

Ali ANWAR Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Beijing 100081; Seoul National University, Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology and Crop Biotechnology Institute/Green Bio Science & Technology, Pyeongchang, 25354 (PK)
Xianchang YU Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Beijing 100081 (CN)
Yansu LI Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Vegetables and Flowers, Beijing 100081 (CN)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha48111806

Keywords:

Cucumis sativus L; gibberellic acid; KNO3; nutrients uptake; plant growth

Abstract

Seed priming is a technique to improve seed germination, seedlings growth, uniformity and yield. The, present study was designed to, investigate the physiological mechanism of seed priming with GA₃ and KNO₃ on cucumber seedlings growth, chlorophyll, photosynthesis and nutrients uptake. The cucumber seeds were treated as; CK; control, T1; GA₃ 100 ppm, T₂; GA₃ 200 ppm, T₃; KNO₃ 1%, T₄; KNO₃ 5%, before seed sowing. The results showed that seed priming with GA₃ and KNO₃ significantly increased the plant height, fresh and dry weight and strong seedling index. Moreover, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll a+b, carotenoid contents, net photosynthesis rate (Pn), stomatal conductance (Gs), transpiration rate (Tr) and intercellular CO₂ concentration in seed priming seedlings. In addition, seed priming significantly enhanced leaf macro and micro nutrient contents. Additionally, among various treatments GA₃ 200 ppm and KNO₃ 5% are found best. These results suggested that seed priming with GA₃ and KNO₃ synergistically promoted the chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis and nutrients uptake in cucumber seedlings, thus leading to improve plant growth.

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