Seed priming using different agents can alleviate salt stress in kenaf ( L.) by activating antioxidant system and related genes expression.

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High salinity is an abiotic stress that limits crop production. Kenaf ( L.) is an annual fiber crop of the genus in the family with a certain tolerance to salt stress. Seed priming has been shown to ameliorate the adverse effects of salt stress on plants. However, the salt resistance mechanism in kenaf seeds treated with priming agents is not fully understood. In this study, we used four priming agents (HO, PEG, ABA, KNO) in different concentrations to treat kenaf seeds, and subjected the induced kenaf seedlings to salt stress (150 mM NaCl) to measure their agronomic traits and physiological and biochemical indicators. Our results indicate that the optimal priming concentration for PEG was 10%, 0.5 μM for ABA, and 0.5% for KNO. Under these treatment concentrations, the germination rate of kenaf was significantly increased, and the fresh weight was also increased by 35.1%, 33.39%, 20.78% and 15.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the use of priming agents can alleviate the adverse effects of salt stress to a certain extent, significantly increase the agronomic indicators such as plant height, stem thickness, and leaf area of kenaf, enhance the ability of plants to perform photosynthesis, further improve the activity of antioxidant enzymes and increase the content of osmotic material, and reduce the accumulation of cell HO, O and MDA. Meanwhile, seed priming can also enhance the expression of and involved in the salt stress pathway. These results warrant that seed priming can reduce the adverse effects of salt stress on kenaf.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-024-01521-x.