Interactions between Halopriming and Hormopriming in Regulating the Vegetative Growth and Seed Quality of Vicia faba L.

Abstract

High seed quality and growth performance is farmer’s and agricultural enterprise’s demand. However, increasing population increases food demand and due to global warming and limited natural resources, more attention has been paid to implementing different effective strategies. Halopriming and hormopriming have shown improvement in different growth and developmental stages in plants and under adverse environmental conditions. Therefore, this study was aimed to study the interaction impact of halopriming and hormopriming on growth and seed production of faba bean (Vicia faba L.). The interaction effect of seed priming was examined during germination and field growth performance of faba bean. Different salt substances NaCl (0, 25 and 50 mM) and CaSO4 (0, 2.5 and 5 mM) were used as a halopriming. Salicylic acid (SA) (0, 0.5 and 1mM) was used as a hormopriming agent. Split-plot randomize complete block design was followed with three replicates. The results show a significant increase in seed germination when the seeds were haloprimed with CaSO4 (2.5 and 5 mM) and compared with the control. NaCl (25 and 50 mM) increased the number of fruit set, brunches, pods and yield per plant significantly in comparison to the control. SA at 0.5 mM increased plant height significantly when compared with the control. These results may indicate that different varieties and species respond differently to seed priming. In addition, the interaction between the halopriming and hormopriming compounds may function as a buffer to modify the osmotic presser during imbibition, and may the seed coat of fabe bean, Aquadlge, variety prevent the transport of the compounds to the embryo. Therefore, it has been suggested and recommended to implement a combination between halopriming and hormopriming using different species and faba bean variety and study its effect at the molecular level during seed germination.