Abstract Soil salinity and sodicity are major limiting factors in crop production globally. Priming with osmolytes has been proposed to mitigate the negative effects of these limiting factors. However, most of the priming studies have been conducted in hydroponics and only limited information is available regarding the impacts of seed priming in natural soil conditions. In the present study, untreated and primed (with distilled water, 4 mM ZnSO4 and 23 mM K2SO4) seeds of maize were grown in pots filled with a saline soil or a saline-sodic one. In the saline and saline-sodic soil, ZnSO4 priming increased the shoot dry biomass of 30-day-old plants by 38 and 69%, and the root dry biomass by 22 and 48%, respectively, when compared to the controls. Water priming (hydro-priming) was also effective in the saline soil, increasing shoot dry biomass by 28% over the control values. In both soils, ZnSO4 priming increased significantly the shoot Ca and Zn concentrations, whereas it decreased shoot Na concentrations. Moreover, ZnSO4 priming increased leaf chlorophyll contents and photosynthesis rates over those in the controls. Priming treatments, especially with water and ZnSO4, also increased significantly the shoot K/Na, Ca/Na, and Mg/Na concentration ratios. In conclusion, priming with ZnSO4 may improve shoot growth in both soils, whereas water priming was suitable for the saline soil.

中文翻译：

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玉米 (Zea mays L.) 种子的锌和钾引发盐影响土壤

摘要 土壤盐分和碱度是全球作物生产的主要限制因素。已经提出用渗透剂灌注以减轻这些限制因素的负面影响。然而，大多数引发研究都是在水培中进行的，关于种子引发对自然土壤条件的影响的信息有限。在本研究中，将未经处理和涂底漆（用蒸馏水、4 mM ZnSO4 和 23 mM K2SO4）的玉米种子种植在充满盐渍土或盐碱土的盆中。在盐渍土和盐碱土中，与对照相比，ZnSO4 引发使 30 天龄植物的地上部干生物量分别增加了 38% 和 69%，根干生物量分别增加了 22% 和 48%。喷水（hydro-priming）在盐渍土中也有效，比对照值增加了 28% 的地上部干生物量。在这两种土壤中，ZnSO4 引发显着增加了地上部钙和锌的浓度，而降低了地上部中钠的浓度。此外，与对照组相比，ZnSO4 引发增加了叶片叶绿素含量和光合作用速率。引发处理，尤其是用水和 ZnSO4 处理，也显着增加了芽 K/Na、Ca/Na 和 Mg/Na 浓度比。总之，用 ZnSO4 引发可以改善两种土壤中的枝条生长，而水引发适用于盐渍土。引发处理，尤其是用水和 ZnSO4 处理，也显着增加了芽 K/Na、Ca/Na 和 Mg/Na 浓度比。总之，用 ZnSO4 引发可以改善两种土壤中的枝条生长，而水引发适用于盐渍土。引发处理，尤其是用水和 ZnSO4 处理，也显着增加了芽 K/Na、Ca/Na 和 Mg/Na 浓度比。总之，用 ZnSO4 引发可以改善两种土壤中的枝条生长，而水引发适用于盐渍土。