Effect of salinity on Orobanche cernua seed germination

Abstract

Seeds of broomrape (Orobanche cernua) were exposed to 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 mM NaCl solutions during their preconditioning period (14 days of moisture) under laboratory conditions and induced to germinate by synthetic germination stimulant (GR24). There was significant reduction in seed germination with increased salt concentration as shown in 35.2, 32.5, 23.6, 14.3, and 9.2% germination, respectively. Exposure of Orobanche cernua seeds to 0.0, 1.0, 1.25, and 1.5 M levels of NaCl for 9 hours resulted in 29.4, 21.3, 20.5, and 17.4% germination, respectively. Water preconditioned seeds showed heavier protein profile bands of 6.5-14.2 KDa than those of dry seeds. Seeds treated with 0.75 M NaCl showed profile similar with that of water preconditioned ones, plus an extra band at 29-36 KDa. The protein profiles of 1.0 and 1.5 M NaCl treated seeds showed weaker bands with the absence of 29-36 KDa band.