![]() To elucidate the ecological responses of different pretreatment to maize species, it may be useful to investigate the changes in not only germination stage, but also seedling growth and yield responses. In recent years, numerous studies were devoted to the physiological responses of seed germination and seedlings stages to chilling or osmotic stress the ecological responses of the whole growing season remain largely unknown. ![]() By soaking seeds (sorghum, rice, or wheat) in water and planting the same day (so-called presoaking treatment), the germination rate could also be increased and seedling emergence improved. Seed priming with optimal concentrations of plant growth hormones, such as auxin (IAA), gibberellins (GA), abscisic acid, and ethylene, has proven that germination performance as well as growth and yield of many crop species under both normal and stress conditions could be improved effectively. For instance, when Lolium perenne seeds were primed with PEG solution, the germination was significantly improved, but no obvious effects were observed with Festuca rubra, Festuca ovina, and Poa trivialis. However, different priming effects were reported with different priming reagents and species. Common priming techniques include hydropriming (soaking seed in water), osmopriming (soaking seed in osmotic solutions such as PEG), halopriming (soaking seed in salt solutions), and priming with plant growth hormones. Various priming treatments have been developed to increase the speed and synchrony of seed germination. Many evidences have shown seed priming could improve germination and early seedling growth under stress conditions compared to plants grown from untreated seed. Although the germination is not completed, metabolic activities that prepare seeds for radicle protrusion may be initiated during priming. Seed priming is a presowing treatment that exposes seeds to a certain solution that allows partial hydration but not germination, and redried to original moisture content. ![]() Rapid and uniform field emergence is an important factor to achieve high yield to meet the growing demand for food. It is also the main crop in northern China, where the climate is a combination of temperate and semiarid monsoon. Maize ranks the third in world production following wheat and rice for the area and production. Maize ( Zea mays L.) is an important crop in the world it is widely used for feed and industrial raw material. Under this condition, it is important to improve the water use efficiency of crop seedlings or find some ways to increase crop yield under drought conditions. Soil evaporation will lead to a large amount of moisture loss, of which 90%–95% occurred in 5–10 cm soil layer, that is, the optimum depth for crop sowing. In semiarid area, seasonal drought is often frequent in spring and autumn, especially in the sowing season. However, when compared with the two methods, if immediate sowing is possible, presoaking is recommended to harvest better benefits compared to priming method. ![]() Therefore, seed pretreatment is proved to be an effective technique to improve the germination performance, seedling growth, and seed yield of maize. Presoaking with water, NaCl (50 mM), or PEG (15%) significantly increased the hundred-grain weight of maize. No significant differences of plant height, leaf number, and hundred-grain weight were observed between control group and priming treatments. The shoot biomass of seedlings after presoaking the seeds with NaCl reagent was significantly higher than the seedlings without priming treatment. 15% PEG priming reagent increased shoot and root biomass of maize seedling. The recommended prime reagents were GA at 10 mg/L, NaCl at 50 mM, and PEG at 15% on account of germination experiment. The final germination percentage and germination rate varied with different reagents significantly ( ). Results indicated that the seeds primed by gibberellins (GA), NaCl, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) reagents showed a higher imbibitions rate compared to those primed with water. A series of seed priming experiments were conducted to test the effects of different pretreatment methods to seed germination, seedling growth, and seed yield traits in maize ( Zea mays L.).
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