Open Access

ARTICLE

Chilling effects after priming by nitric oxide applications on amelioration of leaf growth and photosynthetic pigments

Bibi A¹, SA Majid², A Munir³, A Ulfat⁴, G Javed², S Khatoon², N Azhar², S Ashraf², S Aziz², N Mumtaz²

1 Department of Botany, Women University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Bagh-12460, Pakistan.
2 Department of Botany, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad-13100, Pakistan.
3 Department of Biotechnology, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Muzaffarabad-13100, Pakistan.
4 Department of Botany, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir -12350, Pakistan.

Address correspondence to: Asia Bibi, e-mail:

Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany 2018, 87(all), 178-182. https://doi.org/10.32604/phyton.2018.87.178

Abstract

Chilling stress on cereal crops is the major form of cold stress that appears in some regions, and causes significant losses by depressing seed germination, and seedling growth and establishment. Hormones have the ability to reduce the stress effects in crops by various mechanisms. To determine the role of nitric oxide in mitigating chilling damages in wheat, two trials were conducted and seven wheat varieties were used. Seeds of wheat varieties after priming using three different concentrations (0, 10^-4, 10^-5 M) of sodium nitroprusside as nitric oxide donor were grown under two growth conditions (control, 4 °C) according to a completely randomized design with three replicates. After measuring leaf length, leaf width and leaf number, seedlings were harvested and photosynthetic pigments were determined. Results revealed significant decrease in all the studied parameters under chilling conditions compared to controls during both trials. Nitric oxide donor at 10^-4 M concentration showed significant improvement in all the studied aspects under both growth conditions by ameliorating the chilling effects. So, it is concluded that 10^-4 M nitric oxide induced tolerance in seedlings against chilling stress. This accelerated photosynthetic activity by enhancing photosynthetic pigments production and ultimately seedling growth.

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