부산대학교 도서관

Rice is a major food crop. Due to urbanization and climate change, rice production is declining, posing a threat to the increasing food demand. For this, a modified technique of priming is used to enhance plant vigor. In the present study an endogenous rice cultivar was treated with two different iron salts for 72 h and grown for 14 days in nutrient solution. This increased the iron content of the samples which further escalated the photosynthetic efficiency and carbon assimilation in the treated plants. Photosynthesis being correlated to nitrogen assimilation, nitrogen assimilation intermediates and protein content were also elevated in treated plants. Plants showed no symptoms of stress as evident from low malondialdehyde content and increased antioxidant enzymes' activity. From this study it can be inferred that, treatment with iron during germination, helps to trigger growth by facilitating photosynthesis and nitrogen assimilation. Image 1 • Two different iron salts were used for pulse treatment (72 h) during germination. • Treated plants showed enhanced growth and vigor at 14 day post germination. • Nitrogen assimilation intermediates and total protein content increased in the treated seedlings. • Pulsing also enhanced photosynthetic efficiency of the seedlings. • Iron pulsing is found to be a novel, simple & affordable technique to escalate growth and vigor of rice plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]