Effect of pre-sowing ozone treatment on low temperature tolerance in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) seedlings

Joint application of seedling cold hardening and seed ozonation to spring wheat was studied. This experiment was conducted during 2018–19 at National Research University Moscow Power Engineering Institute, Moscow, Russia to study the effect of ozonation on the biometric parameters and freezing tolerance of two-stage cold hardened spring wheat seedlings. Ozone concentrations in weak humid air flow of 4 and 8 g/m³ and seed exposure time of 15, 30 and 60 minutes in comparison with tebuconazole and difenoconazole fungicide treatment were considered. At fungicide treatment, an inhibitory effect on the seedling biometric parameters was observed. Ozone seed treatment also caused the spring wheat seedling biometric parameters response. At a concentration of 4 g/m³, length of the shoots and root system were stimulated while at a concentration of 8 g/m³ an inhibitory effect of ozone on them was observed. No difference was observed between treated samples (with ozone or fungicide) and control samples in determining the relative freezing tolerance of seedlings cold hardened at low temperatures from -7 to -14°C.