The effect of osmopriming on germination, seedling growth and phosphatase activities of lettuce under saline condition

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of osmopriming with KNO3 on germination traits, seedling growth and phosphatase activities of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) seeds under salinity condition. Lettuce seeds (Var. Vista) were primed with KNO3 (0.05%) for 2 h at 25°C in the dark. Primed and nonprimed seeds were germinated on distilled water containing 0 or 100 mM NaCl, for four days. Results show that germination percentage, root and shoot length and seedling fresh weight of primed seeds was higher than that of non-primed seeds in saline condition. Priming also increased acid phosphatase and phytase activities in the roots, shoots and cotyledons under salt stress. It seems that seed priming can be used for improving performance of lettuce seeds and seedlings grown under saline conditions.Key words: Osmopriming, lettuce, germination, salinity, acid phosphatase, phytase.