Effect of seed pre-treatment with auxin and gibberellin on germination and yield of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.)

Document Type : Original Articles

Authors

• Fahimeh Darkatanian ¹
• Saeed Saeedipour ²

¹ Ashtian Branch, Islamic Azad University, Iran

² Department of Agronomy, Shoushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shoushtar, Iran

10.22067/ijpr.v11i2.72919

Abstract

Introduction
Cowpea (Leguminosae: Papilionoidae) represents the main food legume and a versatile crop in tropical region. It is drought tolerant and could perform better growth in warm climates. It is most popular in the semi-arid regions of the tropics where other food legumes are available. This crop has been described as the major source of dietary protein in tropical and subtropical regions of the world especially where animal protein consumptions are low. Efforts made to maximize yield, is largely hampered by adverse effect of abiotic stress such as salinity and drought. These effects cause a huge loss due to low yield and failure of the crop to establish in some cases. Alternative approach towards efficient and cost effective means of production of cowpea in the tropical regions is very desirable. Pre-sowing hardening seed treatment is an easy, low cost and low risk technique and also an alternative approach recently used to overcome the effect of abiotic stresses in agricultural production. Increased germination rate and uniformity have been attributed to metabolic repair during imbibition, buildup of germination enhancing metabolites, osmotic adjustment, and, for seeds that are not redried after treatment, a simple reduction in imbibition lag time. The beneficial effects of priming have also been demonstrated for many field crops such as wheat, sugar beet, maize, soybean and sunflower. The main objective was to assess the physiological effect of Indole 3acetic acid (IAA) and gibberellic acid (GA3) on germination and seedling growth of cowpea.
 
Material and Methods
This experiment was carried out at the Seed Testing Laboratory, Department of Seed Science & Technology, at the Shoushtar University in Iran, with an objective to determine the rate of seed germination and seedling growth which influenced by various concentrations of growth regulators in cowpea (Vigna sinensis L.). Seeds of cowpea were obtained from the International Institute of Agriculture (IITA), Safiabad Research Station., Ahvaz, Iran. Before the start of experiment, seeds were surface sterilized in 1% sodium hypochlorite solution for 3 min, then rinsed with sterilized water and air-dried. Moisture content of seed was determined by using oven at 103 C for 12 hrs and was found 12% as recommended value. Different concentrations of the growth substances prepared in the laboratory were transferred from the reagent bottles into 50mls conical flasks which were clearly labelled according to the concentration of the growth substances to be used in the soaking treatment. The seeds were soaked in the various concentrations of 20, 40 and 60 ppm of GA3 and IAA with a separate control set. These were soaked for 6 or 12 hours in the above concentrations and only double distilled water for the control set. The seeds were sown on moist filter papers in 9cm well labelled petri dishes.
 
Results and Discussion
Emergence rate, root shoot lengths, seedling biomass are all important contributors of seed vigor. Higher emergence rate is the main foundation, which ensures an improvement of overall seedling performance. Seed germination rate varied significantly among the duration and hormone treatment (p < 0.05). The results showed significant increase in the rate of germination for seeds presoaked in the distilled water when compared with various hormones concentrations. Maximum increase of up to about 25 and 71% in compare to presoaked GA₃ and IAA was observed. The soaking period of 12 hrs decreased the germination rate and uniformity emergence significantly in respect to 6 hrs treatment. Substantial variation on germination and other aspects were found between treatments. The seeds treated with GA₃ showed better performance, in compare with IAA treatments. In comparison, concentrations of GA₃ did not show any difference in respect of all measured traits which meant the higher concentration was as good as the lower concentration. Germination rate under the treatments of IAA at all concentrations recorded maximum by 12 hrs soaking. It was observed that for germination enhancement, distilled water was best suited, but in case of plumule length and uniformity emergence, did not show any significant effect with GA3. When the two hormones were compared, gibberellic acid (GA₃) was observed more effective and responsive to the regulation of radicle and plumule elongation.
 
Conclusion
The findings of this study revealed that cowpea germination and early seedling growth were promoted by pre-sowing hardening treatments in distilled water. The lower concentration of hormones (20 ppm) was found to be more effective in inducing germination rate, total dry weight and uniformity emergence. Generally, treatment of water priming for 6 hours in the laboratory and in the field was the superior treatment in terms of the predominant criteria measured in bean; therefore, it is presented as the best combination of treatment in this study.

Keywords

• GA3
• IAA
• Soaking time
• Yield

---

References

1. Abduallahi, F., Jafari, L., and Gardi Takhti, S.H. 2013. Effect of gibberellin (GA₃) on the growth and chemical composition of Lotus (Ziziphus spina-christi) under salt stress. Journal of Process and Plant Operation 2(2): 53-64. (In Persian with English Summary).
2. Agrawal, R.L. 2004. Seed Technology. Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. LTD. New Delhi.
3. Alonso-Ramírez, A., Rodríguez, D., Reyes, D., Jiménez, J.A., Nicolás, G., López-Climent, M., Gómez-Cadenas, A., and Nicolás, C. 2009. Evidence for a role of gibberellins in salicylic acid-modulated early plant responses to abiotic stress in Arabidopsis seeds. Plant Physiology 150(3): 1335-1344.
4. Amir Shekari, H., Soroush Zadeh, A., Modaress Sani, S.A.M., and Jalali Jawaran, M. 2007. The effect of temperature at the root, onion and gibberellin on growth of saffron (Crocus sativus L.). Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources 14(5): 96-104. (In Persian with English Summary).
5. Arteca, N.R. 1995. Plant Growth Substances: Principles and Applications. Springer, 352 p.
6. Azarnia, M., and Eisvand, H.R. 2013. Effects of hydro and hormonal priming on yield and component yield of (Cicer arietinum L.). Iranian Journal of Plant Production 6(4): 1-18. (In Persian).
7. Babai, A.R., Rahimzada Khoi, F., and Ahari Zad, S. 2011. The effect of the hormonal treatments on seed yield and yield components of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.). 6th National Conference New Ideas in Agriculture. Islamic Azad University of Khorasgan. (In Persian with English Summary).
8. Bajehbaj, A.A. 2010. The effects of NaCl priming on salt tolerance in sunflower germination and seedling grown under salinity conditions. African Journal of Biotechnology 9(12): 1764-1770.
9. Basra, S.M.A., Farooq, M., and Tabassum, R. 2005. Physiological and biochemical aspects of seed vigor enhancement treatments in fine 48 December 2005 rice (Oryza sativa L.). Seed Science Technology 3: 29-33.
10. Bradford, K.J. 1986. Manipulation of seed water relations via osmotic priming to improve germination under stress conditions. Horticulture Science 21: 1105-1112.
11. Chakrabarti, N., and Mukherji, S. 2002. Effect of phytohormone pretreatment on metabolic changes in Vigna radiate under salt stress. Journal of Environmental Biology 23: 295-300.
12. Farooq, M., Basra, S.M.A., Rehman, H., Ahmad, N., and Saleem, B.A. 2007. Osmopriming with salicyclic acid improves the germination and early seedling growth of melons (Cucumis melo L.). Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Science 44: 529-533.
13. Gholami, S., Salehi, A., and Moradi, A. 2015. Effects of maternal plant nutrition on the absorption of some nutritional elements and germination characteristics of Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.). Iranian Journal of Seed Science and Technology 4(1): 119-118. (In Persian).
14. Ghoreyshizadeh, M., and Mirshekari, B. 2015 Seed priming with gibberellic acid and kinetin has amajor role in speedy germination and vigorous performance of bitter vetch (Vicia ervilia). International Journal of Biosciences 6(5): 202-208.
15. Goldani, M., and Rezvani, V. 2006.Effects of different irrigation regimes and planting date on phenology index and growth of three varieties of peas in Mashhad. Sciences and Agriculture 14: 229-224.
16. Harris, D., Pathan, A.K., Gothkar, P., Joshi, A., Chivasa W., and Nyamudeza, P. 2001. On-farm seed priming: using participatory methods to revive and refine a key technology. Agricultural Systems 69: 151-164.
17. Kaur, S., Gupta, A., and Kuar, N. 2003. Gibberellin A₃ reverses the effect of salt stress in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) seedlings by enhancing amylase activity and mobilization of starch cotyledons. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation 26: 85-90.
18. Kaur, S., Gupta, A.K., and Kaur, N. 2005. Seed priming increases crop yield possibly by modulating enzymes of sucrose metabolism in chickpea. Journal of Agronomy and Crop Science 91: 81-87.
19. Kattimani, K.N., Reddy, Y.N., and Rajeswar Rao, B. 1999. Effect of pre-sowing seed treatment on germination, seedling emergence, seedling vigour and root yield of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera Daunal.). Seed Science of Technology 27: 483-488.
20. Kheiri, .A.L., Khalighi, A., Mostoufi, Y., and Naderi, R.A. 2010. The effect of different concentrations of gibberellin and 6-BA on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of tuberose filled. Journal of Crop Improvement in Agriculture 13(1): 9-20. (In Persian with English Summary).
21. Kranner, I., Roach, T., Beckett, R.P., Whitaker, C., and Minibayeva, F.V. 2010. Extracellular production of reactive oxygen species during seed germination and early growth in Pisum sativum. Journal of Plant Physiology 167: 805-811.
22. Majnoon Hoseini, N. 2008. Grain Legume Production. Jihad-e-Daneshgahi of Tehran Publishers. 284pp. (In Persian).
23. McDonald, M.B., 2012. Seed Priming. In: M. Black and J.D. Bewley (Eds.). Seed Technology and Biological Basis, Sheffield Academic Press. England. Chapter 9, p: 287-325.
24. Musa, A.M., Johansen, J., and Kumar, J. 2001. Short duration chickpea to replace fallow after Aman Rice: the role of on-farm seed priming in the high Briand Tract of Bangladesh. Experimental of Agriculture 37: 509-521.
25. Rashid A, Harris, D., Hollington, P.A., and Rafiq, M. 2004. Improving the yield of mung bean (Vigna radiata) in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan using on-farm seed priming. Experimental Agriculture 40(2): 233-244.
26. Sivritepe, H.O., and Dourado, A.M. 1995. The effects of priming treatments on the viability and accumulation of chromosomal damage in aged pea seeds. Annual Botany 75: 165-71.
27. Schelin, M., Tigabu, M., Eriksson, I., Sawadogo, L., and Oden, P.C. 2003. Effects of scarification, gibberelic acid and dry heat treatments on the germination of Balanite aegyptiaca seeds from the sudanian savanna in Burkina faso. Seed Science and Technology 31: 605-617.
28. Toker, C., Ulger, S., Karhan, M., Canci, H., Akdesir, O., Ertoy, N., and Cagirgan, M.I. 2004. Comparison of some endogenous hormone levels in different parts of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 52(3): 233-237.