Iranian Journal of Seed Research

Extended abstract
Introduction: Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bert.) is a herbaceous perennial plant that belongs to the family of Asteraceae. Stevia is a self-incompatible herb and the seeds resulting from this plant have low germination ability. Steviol glycosides found in this plant are 250-300 times sweeter than sucrose and despite their sweet flavor; they are not absorbed by the body. In general, the poor germination capacity of Stevia seeds is a major impediment for its large-scale cultivation. Priming is one of the seed enhancement techniques that could lead to an increase of germination percentage and germination rate under stress conditions. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of priming with salicylic acid (SA), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) on some germination indices, seedling growth as well as the content of photosynthetic pigments in Stevia under normal and drought stress conditions.
Materials and methods: A factorial experiment using a completely randomized design was carried out in the Seed Science and Technology Laboratory of Agricultural College, Shahed University, in 2017. The factors studied comprised four levels of drought stress (0, –0.3, –0.6 and –0.9 MPa) and seven priming combinations with SA, Fe and Zn. Non-primed seeds (dry seeds) were also considered as control. In this experiment, Fe and Zn were supplied by sources of iron (II) sulfate heptahydrate (FeSO₄.7H₂O, 0.5%) and Zinc sulfate heptahydrate (ZnSO₄.7H₂O, 0.5%), respectively. The traits examined in this study included germination percentage, radicle length, plumule length, seedling weight vigor index and the content of photosynthetic pigments and carotenoid.
Results: The results of this experiment indicated that the plumule length was more sensitive to drought stress, as compared with the root length. With increased intensity of drought stress from 0 to – 0.9 MPa, the content of photosynthetic pigments in Stevia significantly decreased in all the priming treatments, so that the lowest amounts of chlorophyll a, b and carotenoid were observed at the potential of – 0.9 MPa. Priming with SA + Fe + Zn was found to be more effective than other treatments in improving the germination characteristics and the chlorophyll content of Stevia under normal and drought stress conditions. At the highest level of drought stress, germination percentage, radicle length, plumule length, seedling vigor index and total chlorophyll content increased by 55.7, 50.5, 74.3, 90.3 and 85.5%, compared with the control in the concurrent application of Fe, Zn, and SA.
Conclusion: In general, seed priming by micronutrient elements (Fe and Zn) and salicylic acid, and particularly their integrated application, could be recommended to increase the resistance of Stevia to drought stress in the germination phase.
 
 
Highlights:

1. Drought stress at the germination stage has a significant effect on the seedling growth and the content of photosynthetic pigments in Stevia.
2. Seed priming increases drought tolerance of Stevia at the germination stage.
3. The integrated application of SA, Fe, and Zn is more effective than their separate application to alleviate the drought-induced damaging effects.

Extended abstract
Introduction: Since the maximum percentage and rate of germination of rapeseed occur at a certain temperature, finding these temperatures can play an important role in determining the appropriate time and place for the cultivation of different cultivars. Also, light can affect the germination percentage of rapeseed at different temperatures, but the response of rapeseed to light, especially at lower and higher temperatures, has not been studied. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the changes in the germination of rapeseed cultivars at different temperatures and determine cardinal germination temperatures based on germination percentage and rate under both the presence and absence of light conditions.
Materials and methods: In this study, germination tests were carried out at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 37, and 40°C temperatures in two light conditions (12 h light / 12 h dark) and darkness on nine spring cultivars (Traper, Agamax, Hayola-50, Hayola-420, RGS, Mahtab, Hayola-61, Zafar, and Zarfam) and one winter cultivar (Garo). The four-parameter Hill model was used to describe germination changes over time and the dent model was used to calculate cardinal temperatures. Seed viability at lower and higher temperatures was evaluated by the tetrazolium test.
Results: The evaluation of the trend of cumulative germination percentage over time in different cultivars showed that maximum germination percentage of all cultivars happened in the temperature range between 15-30 °C, some in the temperature range of 10-30 °C (Hyola-61) and others even in the temperature range of 5-30 °C (RGS, Mahtab, Garo, Zafar, and Zarfam) had the highest germination percentage. The highest germination rate in all cultivars was observed at the temperature range of 22-35 °C. Light only had an effect on the germination percentage of the seeds at sub and super optimal temperatures. At these temperatures, light increased the germination percentage. The remaining seed of 5, 10, 35, 37, and 40 °C temperature after transfer to 20 °C did not germinate, whereas most of them were viable based on the tetrazolium test.
Conclusion: The difference in the optimum temperature range for germination percentage and rate showed that to optimize seed performance, the optimal temperature range between the germination percentage and germination rate should be considered as the optimum temperature for germination. At sub and supra optimal temperatures, light leads to improved germination in some cultivars. The effect of light on germination at supra optimal temperatures was far higher than that of sub-optimal ones. Survival of the remaining seeds at the sub and supra optimal temperatures in some cultivars provided evidence of thermo-dormancy in these cultivars, this issue needs further investigation in the future.

Highlights:
1- The cardinal temperatures were studied based on both the percentage and rate of germination and the effect of light on them.
2- Some new varieties such as Traper and Agamax that little information about their characteristics is available were examined.
3- In this study, the reason for the lack of germination of rapeseed at the sub and supra optimal temperatures especially in the darkness has been mentioned.