Inducing salt tolerance in sweet corn by magnetic priming | INDUKCIJA TOLERANCE NA SOL SLADKE KORUZE S PREDHODNIM OBRAVNAVANJEM SEMEN Z MAGNETNIM POLJEM

English. This study evaluates seed germination and growth of sweet corn under NaCl stress (0, 50, and 100 mM), after exposing the seeds to weak (15 mT) or strong (150 mT) magnetic fields (MF) for different durations (0, 6, 12, and 24 hours). Salinity reduced seed germination and plant growth. MF treatments enhanced rate and percentage of germination and improved plant growth, regardless of salinity. Higher germination rate was obtained by the stronger MF, however, the seedling were more vigorous after priming with 15 mT MF. Proline accumulation was observed in parallel with the loss of plant water content under 100 mM NaCl stress. MF prevented proline accumulation by improving water absorption. Positive correlation between H2O2 accumulation and membrane thermostability (MTI) was found after MF treatments, which revealed that MF primed the plant for salinity by H2O2 signaling. However, over-accumulation of H2O2 after prolonged MF exposure adversely affected MTI under severe salt stress. In conclusion, magnetic priming for 6 hours was suggested for enhancing germination and growth of sweet corn under salt stress.

Slovenian. V raziskavi sta bili ovrednoteni kalitev in rast sladke koruze v razmerah solnega stresa (NaCl; 0, 50, in 100 mM), po izpostavitvi semen šibkemu (15 mT) in močnemu (150 mT) magnetnemu polju (MF) v trajanju 0, 6, 12, in 24 ur. Slanost je zmanjšala kalitev semen in rast rastlin. Obravnavanje z magnetnim poljem je povečalo hitrost in odstotek kalitve ter izboljšalo rast rastlin, ne glede na slanost. Kalitev je bila značilno večja pri obravnavanju z močnejšim magnetnim poljem, kalice so bile bolj vitalne pri obravnavanju z 15 mT MF. Akumulacija prolina je bila opažena sočasno z izgubo vsebnosti vode v razmerah močnega NaCl stresa. Obravnavanje z magnetnim poljem je izboljšalo absorbcijo vode in preprečilo akumulacijo prolina. Pozitivna korelacija med akumulacijo H2O2 in termostabilnostjo membran (MTI), ki je bila opažena po obravnavanju z MF je pokazala, da so bile tako obravnavane rastline odpornejše na slanost preko H2O2 signalizacije. Kljub temu je prekomerna akumulacija H2O2, kot posledica podaljšane izpostavitve MF, negativno vplivala na MTI v razmerah solnega stresa. Zaključimo lahko, da predobravnavanje semen z magnetnim poljem za 6 ur pospeši nihovo kalitev in rast rastlin v razmerah solnega stresa.