Soda saline-alkali soil has double adverse effects on
growth, morphogenesis and yield of the crops by creating
a salinity stress and a high pH value in the rhizosphere
surroundings of the plant. Seed priming can be an effective
approach to enhance stress adaptation in seedlings
growing in salinity stressed conditions. The present study
examined the role of hydropriming and comprehensive
seed priming with ZnSO
4, CaCl
2, betaine hydrochloride
and GA
3 to enhance the soda saline-alkali tolerance in
soybeans (
Glycine max
[L.] Merr.) seedlings. An unprimed
control treatment was also maintained for comparison.
The results show that two seed priming treatments can
effectively mitigate the negative effects of soda salinealkali
stress. Nevertheless, compared with hydropriming,
soybean seedlings from the comprehensive seed priming
treatment had better growth performance through
accumulation of soluble sugar and free proline contents,
enhancing the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD)
and catalase (CAT), decreasing the malondialdehyde
(MDA) content formed from lipid peroxidation, increasing
the photosynthetic pigment contents, maintaining a better
membrane integrity of the chloroplasts and mitochondria,
and generating more starch grains in the chloroplasts of
spongy mesophyll cells under soda saline-alkali stress.
In conclusion, our results suggest that soybean seedlings
from comprehensive seed priming exhibited a higher
tolerance to soda saline-alkali stress than the unprimed
control treatment.
