Open Access

ARTICLE

Seed Priming Improves Chilling Stress Tolerance in Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Seedlings

Md. Tahjib-Ul-Arif^1,2,*, Md Asaduzzaman³, Bir Jahangir Shirazy^2,4, Md. Shihab Uddine Khan⁵, A. M. Sajedur Rahman^2,6, Yoshiyuki Murata², Sozan Abdel Hamed⁷, Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef^8,9,*

1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, 2202, Bangladesh
2 Graduate School of Environmental, Life, Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan
3 Atopy (Allergy) Research Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan
4 Rice Farming Systems Division, Bangladesh Rice Research Institute, Gazipur, 1701, Bangladesh
5 Agricultural Research Station, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Satkhira, 9400, Bangladesh
6 Breeding Division, Bangladesh Sugarcrop Research Institute, Pabna, 6620, Bangladesh
7 Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, South Valley University, Qena, 83523, Egypt
8 Botany and Microbiology Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, 83523, Egypt
9 Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Center, South Valley University, Qena, 83523, Egypt

* Corresponding Authors: Md. Tahjib-Ul-Arif. Email: ; Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance in Crop)

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2024, 93(11), 3013-3027. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2024.058710

Received 19 September 2024; Accepted 24 October 2024; Issue published 30 November 2024

Abstract

Chilling is one of the major abiotic stresses for plants, especially for rice cultivation. Many essential metabolic processes for growth and development are temperature-dependent. In that case, reducing the negative effects of cold stress using exogenous chemicals is a possible option. Therefore, the current study examined the effects of pre-sowing seed treatment with different chemicals, viz. hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), salicylic acid (SA), calcium chloride (CaCl₂), thiourea (TU), and citric acid (CA) on the germination of rice seeds (cv. BRRI dhan28) under chilling environments. Rice seeds were soaked in distilled water (control), 10 mM CA, 2 mM SA, 10 mM CaCl₂, 10 mM H₂O₂, and 10 mM TU solutions for 24 h. After that, seeds were exposed to chilling stress by incubating at 4 ± 1°C for 8 h, followed by at 25 ± 2°C for 16 h for 7 days. Exposure to chilling stress significantly reduced the final germination percent (13.6%), germination rate index (36.0%), coefficient of the velocity (25.0%), shoot fresh weight (44.4%), and root fresh weight (60.5%). Moreover, chilling induced oxidative damage and reduced the activity of antioxidant enzymes (catalase and ascorbate peroxidase). In contrast, treatments with H₂O₂, SA, CaCl₂, TU, and CA considerably enhanced germination indices and seedling growth compared to chilling stress conditions. The study showed that priming with H₂O₂, SA, CaCl₂, TU, and CA significantly boosted antioxidant enzyme activities and reduced MDA and H₂O₂ contents in chilling-stressed rice plants, indicating less oxidative stress and improved tolerance. Principal component analysis showed that among these priming agents, H₂O₂, SA, and CA are most effective in chilling stress mitigation. Therefore, using seed-treating chemicals to combat the effect of chilling stress can help rice seedlings grow better in the winter season.

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