This study investigates the effect of static magnetic field (SMF) pre‐treatment in ameliorating arsenic (As) toxicity in soybean plants in relation to growth, photosynthesis and water transport through leaf venation. Soybean (Glycine max variety JS‐9560) seeds pre‐treated with SMF (200 mT for 1 h) were grown in four levels of arsenate‐polluted soil (As(V); 0, 5, 10 and 50 mg kg−1) in order to find out the impact of magnetopriming on plant tolerance against As toxicity. Quantitative image analysis of soybean leaf venation showed a narrowing in the width of midrib with increasing As(V) contamination in non‐primed seeds. The morphological variations are also supported by the physiological parameters such as reduction in efficiency of photosystem II, plant performance index, stomatal conductance and photosynthetic rate in the presence of As(V) for non‐primed seeds. However, remarkable increase was observed in all the measured parameters by SMF pre‐treatment at all the concentrations of As(V) used. Even for the highest concentration of As(V) (50 mg kg−1 soil), SMF pre‐treatment caused significant enhancement in plant height (40%), area of third trifoliate leaves (40%), along with increase in width of the midrib (17%) and minor vein (13%), contributing to increase in the water uptake, that resulted in higher primary photochemistry of PSII (12%), performance index (50%), stomatal conductance (57%) and photosynthetic rate (33%) as compared to non‐primed ones. Consequently, magnetopriming of dry seeds can be effectively used as pretreatment for reduction of As toxicity in soybean plants.
Heavy metal (HM) toxicity is vital environmental constraint that limits crop productivity worldwide. Several physiological processes necessary for plant survival have been found to be affected by HM toxicity. In recent farming, advanced mechanisms are being developed to overcome from the stresses to enhance the yield. The seed priming is an affordable method for plants to survive under abiotic and biotic stresses. Priming is useful for commercial seed lots by seed technologists to increase the vigor of the seeds in terms of germination potential and enhance the tolerance against various stresses. It also removes the pollution threats by minimizing the uses of chemical fertilizers. The seeds having deprived of quality in terms of seed germination and seedling characters ultimately affect the growth, photosynthetic performance and yield of the plants under HM stress. On the other hand seed primed with various seed priming methods such as hydropriming, hormonal priming, chemical priming, biopriming, magnetopriming and nanopriming perform well under HM toxicity. Seed priming methods have been considered as a unique approach to get rid of HM stress by enhancing the seed germination, seedling vigor, rate of photosynthesis, biomass accumulation and thus increase the crop productivity. The present review provides an overview of different seed-priming methods and their role in alleviation of adverse effects of HM stress in plants.
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