1Corresponding Author, Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, IAU, Shushtar Branch, Iran.
2Islamic Azad University, Shushtar Branch, Iran.
3Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran.
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of seed priming on the seedling traits and seedling growth of Cucurbita pepo under salinity conditions. Seeds of Cucurbita pepo were primed with KNO3 (0.15,0.25 mol.L−1), PEG (0.25,0.35 mol.L−1) solution and hydropriming for 24 hrs in continuous 30°C. Primed (P) and un-primed (NP) seeds were cultured in medium grade perlite and placed in greenhouse for 35 days. Pots were daily irrigated with nutrient solutions containing different levels of salinity (0, 4, 6 dSm−1). Results showed that seedling dry weight and leaf number of plants derived from KNO3 primed seeds were higher compared with other priming and un-primed seeds. Na content of leaves derived from KNO3 primed seeds was lower than that of other treatments seed. In contrast, K content of KNO3 priming resulted plantlets was comparatively higher compared with other ones. More accumulation of proline and soluble sugar were found in KNO3 priming, however there were not significantly correlated with shoot dry mass. It seems that KNO3 priming (especially low concentration) has a notable beneficial effect on seedling performance of summer squash under salinity condition.
Cucurbita pepo, priming, KNO3, PEG, salinity
