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Seed Soaking with Sodium Selenate as a Biofortification Approach in Bread Wheat: Effects on Germination, Seedling Emergence, Biomass and Responses to Water Deficit

Authors :
Luís Rocha
Ermelinda Silva
Ivo Pavia
Helena Ferreira
Carlos Matos
José M. Osca
José Moutinho-Pereira
José Lima-Brito
Source :
Agronomy, Vol 12, Iss 8, p 1975 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
MDPI AG, 2022.

Abstract

Selenium (Se) biofortification by seed treatments has been poorly explored in wheat due to the difficulties in establishing seed treatments without compromising plant productive traits. We investigated the effects of Se seed soaking as a pre-sowing treatment in bread wheat. Five soaking periods and six Se concentrations were assessed on germination and seedling traits and compared to unsoaked seeds. Twelve hours of soaking was found beneficial for most tested Se concentrations. Then, we evaluated the effects of untreated, 0, 2.5 and 25 mM Se in 12 h seed soaking treatments along the wheat crop cycle under water-deficit (WD) and well-watered (WW) conditions in a pot experiment. Our results evidenced that 12 h of 2.5 mM Se soaking did not affect the germination percentage, and speed-up seedling emergence resulted in a considerable Se seed uptake. These plants also displayed enhanced antioxidant capacity and vegetative biomass accumulation, especially under WD. The treatment with 25 mM of Se negatively affected aerial biomass, suggesting potential toxicity. Physiological responses of Se-treated plants remained unchanged, as well as grain traits. Altogether, we propose that 12 h soaking with 2.5 mM Se is a promissory pre-sowing approach to enrich bread wheat grain and straw, particularly under water-limited environments.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
20734395
Volume :
12
Issue :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Agronomy
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.1da6adbdf64841f1b121d0272ffcbc02
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12081975