The effect of seed priming at different seed quality by melatonin on seedling emergence and growth characteristic of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) under stress combination of salinity and drought

Introduction Drought and salinity are major environmental factors that influence crop productivity worldwide .Plants are normally subjected to a combination of various types of abiotic stresses in nature, such as the combined effects of drought and salinity .Studies have revealed that the physiological and biochemical responses of plants to the interaction of drought and salinity are unique and cannot be directly extrapolated from the responses to the two stresses individually. Storage of orthodox seeds for prolonged period induces their deterioration leading ultimately to loss of their viability. The rate of seed deterioration varies among plant species and seed lots, but high moisture content and high temperature accelerate this process. During long-term storage, all seeds undergo aging processes leading to deterioration in seed quality, especially in the humid tropical regions. However, the rate of seed deterioration can vary among various plant species. When aged seeds are sown, they show decreased viability, lower germinability performance, and produce weak seedlings which could not manage to survive in their habitat. Seed priming (osmoconditioning) has been successfully demonstrated to improve seed germination and seedling establishment for many field crops.The beneficial effects of priming have also been demonstrated on germination and seed emergence, as well as seedling establishment of many crops, particularly under drought and salt stress.Use of chemical compounds as priming agents has been found to improve plant tolerance significantly in various crop and non-crop species against a range of different individually applied abiotic stresses.Melatonin, due to its pleiotropic effects can play important roles in improving plant tolerance to adverse conditions. Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) is one of the prospective oilseed crops because it yields about 32–40 % seed oil. However, due to its considerable salt resistance than commonly grown oilseed crops, it is cultivated in arid and semi-arid regions where soil salinity is one of the major threats to agriculture.Drought is very unpredictable among abiotic stresses in terms to occurrence, severity, timing. and duration and safflower can be a promising alternate crop in dryland agro-ecosystems due to its growth potential under water stress without a substantial reduction of oil and seed yields. Safflower cultivation constitutes a more profitable crop for the farmers in some countries, compared to other conventional crops such as barley, lentil, and chickpea.The fact that safflower can overcome environmental stresses such as extreme temperatures, drought, and salinity has facilitated its expansion in areas around the world, where soil and climatic restrictions have impeded the cultivation of conventional food and cash crops. In particular, safflower has demonstrated drought resistance with a slight decrease in crop yield and significant stability in water use efficiency Materials and methods In order to study the effect of seed priming of naturally aged seed by melatonin on seedling emergence and growth characteristic of safflower, three experiments were conducted at seed science technology laboratory, greenhouse and research farm of Aburaihan Campus, the University of Tehran in 2017. The experimental design for all experiment was factorial in completely randomized design (laboratory) and randomized complete block design (research farm and greenhouse) with 4 replicates. The main treatments that common between experiments consist of seed quality (1-naturally aged seed 2- new seed) and seed priming (1-without priming 2- hydropriming 3- Melatonin 0.1 mM 4- Melatonin 0.5 mM). Soil water was determined based on soil moisture release curve, which indicates the relationship between soil water potential and soil moisture content. Prior to the pot experiments, three samples of wet soil (wet soil = dry soil ? soil moisture content) were dried and soil moisture content at the beginning of experiment was determined.Then pots were equally filled with wet soil. Two pots were considered as references and were weighted each day: one for drought stress and one for other abiotic stresses. The soil moisture content could be obtainable after weighing and it was possible to calculate soil water potential from soil moisture release curve. Results and discussion The results of this research indicated that the highest percentage of seedling emergence of naturally aged seed obtained by hydropriming and melatonin priming at 0.1 mM by %54.50 and %57.50 that increased the seedling emergence up to %39.74 and %47 respectively, in comparison to control in the farm condition. Also, the results showed that highest percentage of seedling emergence under drought condition belong to melatonin priming at 0.1 mM concentration that increased the seedling emergence up to %154 in comparison to control in the greenhouse condition. The results of this experiment indicated melatonin priming at 0.1 mM concentration led to the highest rate and percentage of seedling emergence under salinity and combination of salinity and drought condition while melatonin priming at 0.5 mM concentration has decreased the rate of seedling emergence. Conclusions In general, using of seed priming as a cost-effective method also hydropriming and melatonin priming could enhance the seed quality for growth under salinity and drought conditions.