Effects of Elf-Emf Treatment on Wheat Seeds at Different Stages of Germination and Possible Mechanisms of Their Origin

Abstract

The efficiency of weak ELF (extremely low frequency) EMF on living systems can be explained by taking into account the nonstationary processes that arise when ions pass part of the intermembrane distance during the EMF period. The periodic movement of ions in the heterogeneous medium would result in the nonlinear effects influencing the ionic strength and pH near the membrane and the release of some peripheral proteins to the water phase. Based on this notion, we studied the effects of EMF treatment (30 or 50 Hz, 30 mT) at different stages of imbibition of wheat seeds. The treatment at the stage of activation of esterases increased the leakage of the products of esterase reaction with its following retardation, which contrasts with the linear kinetics for untreated seeds and for seeds treated at earlier stages. The treatment also led to a reliable increase in pH near the embryo surface. When the wheat seeds with germinability of 50% were treated at the stage of root formation, a significant increase in the number of seeds with roots was observed. The sprout length reliably increased after this treatment with respect to seeds treated later and untreated seeds. In the latter case, only the number of seeds with sprouts increased. Long treatment of seeds during the second day of imbibition reduced the length of sprouts. The observed effects are discussed on the basis of this proposed mechanism.

Research Of Effect Of Low Frequency Magnetic Field On Germination, Growth And Fruiting Of Field Tomatoes

“…Studies carried out by the authors Aksyonov et al (2001) confirmed that the 15 minute treatment of seeds of wheat by the magnetic field of induction of 30 mT caused amplification of root growth by nearly 25%, while the length of the stems of the plants was higher by 40% compared to the control plants. Alexander et Doijode (1995) reports that the use of the magnetic field within the seed treatment before germination improved root growth and viability of rice and onions.…”

Magnetic fields: how is plant growth and development impacted?

“…Timing is also of great importance from the view point of the timing of application. As Aksyonov et al (2001) demonstrated, the effect of an EMF (30, 50 Hz, 30 mT) was different if it was applied at different stages of germination of wheat seeds. If EMF was applied at the stage of esterase activation, leakage of products from the esterase reaction increased relative to both the untreated and earlier treated seeds.…”

Acceleration of germination and early growth of wheat and bean seedlings grown under various magnetic field and osmotic conditions

“…There was no considerable heating effect of the coils stemming from the current. The highest temperature at the site of the samples located did not exceed 26 8C, which is within the range of temperatures considered optimal for wheat or bean seed germination [Aksyonov et al, 2001]. Current and voltage required to generate MFs was provided by power supplies (Global Dual Power Supply,Model 3521,Wilmington,DE).…”