Abstract

This study explores the impact of pulsed electric field (PEF) application on oat seedling growth and stress tolerance. PEF treatment (99 monopolar, rectangular pulses lasting 10 mu s each, with a frequency of 13 Hz and a nominal electric field strength of 2250 V/cm) was applied at two growth stages: (i) when the seedlings had 0.2 cm roots emerging from the kernel, and (ii) when they had a 0.4 cm shoot emerging from the kernel. Posttreatment, the seedlings were hydroponically grown for 8 days. To induce stress, the hydroponic medium was augmented with PEG (15 %) to induce drought stress and NaCl (150 mM) to induce salinity stress. Results demonstrate that applying PEF improved the growth of the root and shoot of oat seedlings. This effect was more pronounced when applied to more developed seedlings. When PEF was applied during the later stage of germination, seedlings exposed to salinity stress showed enhanced shoot growth compared to the control. Under the studied conditions, the application of PEF had no impact on the growth of seedlings under drought stress.

Keywords

Electrostimulation; Salinity stress; Drought stress; Rooting; Shoot elongation

Published in

Bioelectrochemistry
2024, Volume: 158, article number: 108692
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

SLU Authors

• Radha Sivarajan, Sajeevan

  • Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Botany
Other Chemistry Topics
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioelechem.2024.108692

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/130036