Improving Seed Germination of Saltgrass under Saline Conditions

Abstract

Saltgrass [Distichlis spicata var. stricta (Greene)] has a great potential for use as a turfgrass and as a revegetation species of saline sites. Experiments were conducted to test the effect of the application of different concentrations of ethephon, fusicoccin, kinetin, thiourea, and Proxy on saltgrass seed germination under three salinity levels. Saltgrass germination percentage was 56% under nonsaline condition, which was reduced to 46 and 26% at 15 and 30 dS m−1 salinity levels, respectively. Ethephon application (5 mM) increased saltgrass germination percentage under the highest salinity treatment (30 dS m−1) only. However, Proxy (at 5 mM a.i.) increased saltgrass germination under all salinity treatments, reaching 97, 76, and 40% under control, 15 dS m−1, and 30 dS m−1 salinity levels, respectively. Kinetin at 0.5 to 1.0 mM did not increase saltgrass germination under nonsaline conditions but increased germination percentage by 35% at 15 dS m−1 and by 89% at 30 dS m−1 salinity. Fusicoccin (at 10 μM) and thiourea (at 30.0 mM) also increased germination percentage under all salinity treatments. Our investigation showed that 5.0 mM ethephon, 10 μM fusicoccin, 0.5 to 1.0 mM kinetin, 30 mM thiourea, and Proxy (at 5 mM a.i.) increased saltgrass seed germination under saline conditions. Proxy was the most effective in improving saltgrass germination percentage under saline conditions, followed by thiourea, fusicoccin, ethephon, and kinetin.

Thiourea, a ROS Scavenger, Regulates Source-to-Sink Relationship to Enhance Crop Yield and Oil Content in Brassica juncea (L.)

“…Thiourea (TU) is a non-physiological thiol and has been employed by various researchers to impart stress tolerance and improve yield of crops like mustard [21], wheat [22], mungbean [23], salt grass [24], potato [25] and maize [26]. The TU mediated enhanced yield was associated with an increased translocation of sucrose metabolites from source to sink [17].…”

Impact of dormancy regulating chemicals on salinity induced dormancy in Lasiurus scindicus and Panicum turgidum: two desert glycophytic grasses

“…Nitrate and thiourea were able to counteract the inhibition produced by salinity treatments in Allenrolfea occidentalis, although they were relatively less effective, compared to other chemicals such as fusicoccin and ethephon (Gul and Weber 1998). Thiourea was effective in alleviating salinity induced dormancy in saltgrass (Shahba et al 2008), Triglochin maritime (Khan and Ungar 2001c), Sporobolus arabicus (Khan and Ungar 2001b), Aeluropus lagopoides (Gulzar and Khan 2002) and Prosopis juliflora (El- Keblawy et al 2005). In our study, thiourea successfully alleviated germination inhibition in the two species, but nitrate not.…”

Seed Production Characteristics of Prairie Junegrass Germplasm Accessions

“…Seeds from the 68 available accessions were placed into individual glass vials and pretreated with a solution of 200 μL ethephon (Proxy; Bayer Environmental Science, Research Triangle Park, NC) in 500 mL deionized water for 24 h to break seed dormancy as modifi ed from Shahba et al (2008). Seeds were sown into Metro-Mix 200 soilless media (Sun Gro Horticulture, Bellevue, WA) and allowed to germinate in greenhouse conditions in early April 2007.…”