Effect of seed priming by potassium nitrate on germination and biochemical indices in Silybum marianum L. under salinity stress

Abstract

For investigation of the effect of seed priming by potassium nitrate on germination and biochemical indices of Silybum marianum L. under salinity stress, factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with two factor including different concentrations of potassium nitrate (0, 0.25 and 0.35 mM) and  calcium chloride (0, 150 and 250 mM) at three replicates was carried out. Results showed that salinity stress decrease the germination indices and amount of seedling protein and also increase the peroxidase activity. With using of 0.25 mM potassium nitrate germination indices were improved and peroxidase activity was reduced. Also, results showed that seed priming with 0.35 mM was not suitable. Therefore, seed priming with 0.25 mM potassium nitrate was improved seedling growth and germination indices under salinity stress.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijls.v9i1.11922 International Journal of Life Sciences Vol.9(1) 2015 23-28