Effect of Salinity and Drought Stresses on Germination Stage and Growth of Black Cumin (Bunium Persicum Boiss)

پژوهشهای زراعی ایران

Article 1, Volume 15, Issue 1 - Serial Number 45, April 2017, Pages 1-7   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/gsc.v15i1.20002

Authors

H. R. Saeedi Goraghani^{* 1}; A Ranjbar Fordoei²; M Soleimani Sardo³; M. J Mahdavi⁴

¹University of Tehran

²University of Kashan

³University of Jiroft

⁴Payame Noor University

Abstract

Introduction
Range plants have important and crucial roles in medicinal industry andtogether with scarcity and low quality of the water and soil resources, prevent a quick recovery of the soil plant covering. Because of these restrictions, it is important to consider the use of salt and drought tolerant species for plantation and to preserve plant cover. In this sense, the use of native species such as black cumin (Bunium persicum Boiss) may be of interest due to their medicinal characteristics and potential ability to adapt to adverse conditions (dry and saline conditions). Black cumin (B. persicum) as a medicinal plant plays a vital role in Iranian medicine so there is a need to know about the factors affecting their growth and propagation.

Materials and Methods
To investigate the effects of drought and salt stresses on germination and growth in black cumin two separate experiments were conducted. Drought stress was applied through incubation in four different concentrations of PEG 6000 that provide solutions with water potentials ranging from -0.2 to -0.8 MPa (including control and four levels of dryness). Salinity treatments (including control and four levels of salinity) were prepared by adding molar concentrations of NaCl to provide a range of salinity from 50 to 300 mM. Germination percentage and speed was calculated by computation of germinated seeds every day. Growth parameters (rootlet, shoot and seedling length total), allometric index and seed vigority were obtained accordingly.

Results and Discussion
Seeds under both drought and salt stress showed significant reduction in germination percentage, germination rate, radicle length, plumule length, and alometric and seed vigor indices. This trend was much pronounced under high levels of NaCl and low levels of water potentials, so that germination at Ψs = -0.6 MP was completely stopped.

Conclusions
Assessment of drought and salt stresses on germination and growth in black cumin is very important in the management of its planting. With increasing salinity and drought levels, the germination reduced significantly. Although due to higher germination of seeds in different levels of salinity rather than drought, this species seems to be more sensitive to drought stress.

Keywords

Bunium persicum; Drought stress; Germination; Salt stress

References

1. Abdul baki, A. A., and Anderson J. D. 1973. Vigor determination in soybean seed by multiple criteria. Crop Science 13: 630-633.

2. Dadkhah, A. 2010. Salinity effect on germination and seedling growth of four medicinal plants. Iranian Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 26 (3): 358-369. (In Persian with English abstract).

3. Ebadi, M. T. Azizi, M. and Farzane, A. 2009. Effect of Salt Stress on Germination Factors of Four Cultivars of Chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.). Environmental Stresses on Agricultural Sciences 2 (1): 93-98. (In Persian with English abstract).

4. Farzaneh, A., Ebadi, M. T., Nemati, S. H., and Arouiee, H. 2011. Evaluation of germination factors of two improved cultivars and one Iranian landrace of cornflower (Centaurea cyanus L.) under salt stress conditions. Iranian Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 27 (1). (In Persian with English abstract).

5. Ghaderi, Sh., Ghorbani, J., Gholami, P., Karimzadeh, A., and Salarian, F. 2011. Effect of Salt and Drought Stresses on Germination Indices of Vicia Villosa L. Journal of Agroecology 3 (1): 121-130. (In Persian with English abstract).

6. Ghoulam C., and Fares K. 2001. Effect of salinity on seed germination and early seedling growth of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.). Seed Science and Technology 29: 357-364.

7. Greenwood, M. E., and Macfarlen, G. R. 2009. Effects of salinity on competitive interactions between two Juncus species. Journal of Aquatic Botany 90: 23-29.

8. Hosseini, H., and Rezvani Moghadam, P. 2006. Effect of water and salinity stress in seed germination on Isabgol (Plantago ovata). Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research 4 (1): 15-22. (In Persian with English abstract).

9. Jamil M., Deog, B. L., Kwang, Y. J., Ashraf, M., Sheong, C. L., and Euishik, R. 2006. Effects of salt (NaCl) stress on germination and early seedling growth of four vegetables species. Journal of European Agriculture 7 (2): 273-282.

10. Kafi, M., and Keshmiri, E. 2011. Study of Yield and Yield Components of Iranian Land Race and Indian RZ19 Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) under Drought and Salinity Stress. Journal of Horticulture Science 25 (3): 327-334. (In Persian with English abstract).

11. Kalantari, Kh. 2006. Data Processing and Analysis in Socio-Economic Research. Sharif Publication 388p.

12. Kaufman, M. R., and Eckard, A. N. 1971. Evaluation of stress control by polyethylene glycols by analysis of gulation, Plant Physiology 47: 453-456.

13. Maguire, J. D. 1962. Speeed of germination-aid in selection and evaluation for seedling emergence and vigour. Crop Science 2: 176-177.

14. Manchanda, G., and Garg, N. 2008. Salinity and its effects on the functional biology of legumes. Acta Physiology Plant 30: 595-618.

15. Mehrabi, A. A., Mansour, O., Fazelinasab, B. 2011. Effect of Salt Stress on Seed Germination, Seedling Growth and Callus Culture of Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Iranian Journal of Field Crop Sciences 42 (1): 81-90. (In Persian with English abstract).

16. Perez, J. G., Robles, J. M., Tovar, J. C., and Botia, P. 2009. Response to drought and salt stress of lemon ‘Fino 49’ under field conditions: Water relations, osmotic adjustment and gas exchange. Scientia Horticulturae 122: 83-90.

17. Ramolya, P. J., Patel, H., and Panday, A. N. 2004. Effect of salinization of soil in grows and macro- and micro-nutrient accumulation in seedlings of Salvadora percica. Forest ecology and management, Article in press.

18. Saber-Amoli, S., Naseri, A., Rahmani, Gh. H., and Kalirad, A. 2005. Medicinal Plants of Kerman Province. Bimonthly Iranian Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants 20 (4): 487-532. (In Persian with English abstract).

19. Salehi, M., Kafi, M., and Kiani, A. R. 2011. Effect of Salinity and Water Deficit Stresses on Biomass Production of Kochia (Kochia scoparia) and Trend of Soil Salinity. Seed and Plant Production Journal 27 (2): 417-433. (In Persian with English abstract).

20. Sharma, A. D., Thakur, M., Rana, M., and Singh, K. 2004. Effect of plant growth hormones and abiotic stresses on germination, growth and phosphates activities in Sorghum bicolor L. (Moench seeds). African Journal of Biotechnology 3 (6): 308-312.

21. Spaniel, S., Marhold, K., Hodalova, I., and Lihova, J. 2008. Diploid and tetraploid cytotypes of Centaurea stoebe (Asteraceae) in central Europe: Morphological differentiation and cytotype distribution patterns. Folia Geobotanica 43 (2): 131-158.

22. Tamartash, R., Shokrian, F., and Kargar, M. 2010. Effects of salinity and drought stress on Trifolium alexanderium L. seed germination properties. Rangeland 4 (2): 288-297. (In Persian with English abstract).

23. Zargari, A. 1996. Medicinal Plants. Tehran University Publication, No 1810. (In Persian).

24. Zia, S., and Khan, M. A. 2004. Effect of light salinity and temperature on seed germination of Limonium stocksii. Can. J. Bo 82: 151-1.

25. Zire_zadeh, M., Shahin, M., and Tohidi, M. 2009. Assessment of Salinity and Drought Stresses on Germination Stage and Growth of Thymos. Crop physiology, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz branch 1 (4). (In Persian).