Effect of Nano Selenium Seed Priming on Sorghum Seed germination, Seedling Growth and Bacterial Growth

Author: Dhakshya Senthil, Karthikeyan Subburamu, Janaguiraman Maduraimuthu, Balachandar Dhanjeyan and Ramalakshmi Alaguchevar

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Abstract

Sorghum is a grain crop that is frequently grown throughout the world's dry and semi-arid regions and provides valuable food, feed, and biofuel. However, biotic and abiotic stressors such as drought, salt, pests, and diseases frequently limit sorghum output. Seed priming is a pre-sowing strategy that improves seed germination and seedling growth in stressful environments. Nano selenium (nano-Se) is a kind of selenium that has been found to improve plant growth and stress tolerance. The effect of nano-Se seed priming on sorghum seed germination, seedling growth, and bacterial growth, on the other hand, has not been thoroughly investigated. The goal of this work was to analyse the influence of nano-Se seed priming on these characteristics and to determine the probable mechanisms involved. Nano-selenium has been demonstrated to help agricultural crops grow and resist pests and diseases when used as fertilizers. At low concentrations, both selenium and nano-selenium increase plant growth, antioxidant activity, and stress tolerance, which has sparked an increasing interest in evaluating their potential use in crop production and agro-biotechnologies. Therefore, the effect of nanoparticles on plants and microbes must be quantified before their use in soil. This study aimed to examine the toxicity potential of nano-selenium on the germination of sorghum seed, growth of representative soil bacteria viz., Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas koreensis. Sorghum seeds K-8 and three representative soil bacterial organisms were soaked in different concentrations of nano-selenium (0, 5, 12.5, 25, 50, 100, 200 mg L-1) for 24 h and then seeds were sown in roll towel to quantify germination potential and seedling growth, whereas the growth and survival of representative soil micro-organisms were also assessed. In this study we came to know that nano-selenium is non-toxic up to 100 mg L-1 but above the concentration that is 200 mg L-1 decreased the rate of germination potential. However, the growth of bacterial organism grows well in all graded nano-Se, hence it is considered to non-toxic up to 200 mg L-1 Hence, this study concluded that nano-selenium is toxic above 100 mg L-1 for plant growth but non-toxic for representative soil bacterial growth.

Keywords

Germination rate, toxicity, nano-selenium concentration

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that nano-selenium at concentrations between 5 and 100 mg L-1 had no effect on bacterial growth or seed germination. Overall nano-selenium activity shows that concentrations between 5 and 100 mg L-1 did not cause any toxicity, but concentrations over 200 mg L-1 had a hazardous effect on the germination of sorghum seeds. Meanwhile nano-selenium up to a concentration of 200 mg L-1 has no effect on representative soil bacterial growth.

References

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How to cite this article

Dhakshya Senthil, Karthikeyan Subburamu, Janaguiraman Maduraimuthu, Balachandar Dhanjeyan and Ramalakshmi Alaguchevar (2023). Effect of Nano Selenium Seed Priming on Sorghum Seed germination, Seedling Growth, and Bacterial Growth. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(8a): 312-316.