Knowledge of plant response to salinity, especially at early growth stages, is critical to optimizing crop production in salt-affected soils. In this paper we explore quantitatively the effectiveness of seed pre-treatment to lessen the effects of salinity on Borage (Borago officinalis L.) seed germination and subsequent seedling growth. Two independent experiments were conducted with nine salinity levels and five seed pre-treatments using Lake Urmia saline water (LUsw), ascorbic acid (Asc), proline (Pro), potassium silicate (K₂SiO₃) and spermidine (Spd). The first set of experiments was used to obtain the most effective pre-treatments for seed germination. The second set of experiments investigated the combined effects of salinity and seed pre-treatment concentration on the emergence process. Salinity was found to have considerable inhibitory effects on seedling growth, but pre-treating the seeds alleviated some of these effects. Seedling response to salinity could be described well using the threshold-slope salinity response function of Maas and Hoffman (1977) and the S-shaped function of van Genuchten and Hoffman (1984). A means comparison (using Tukey’s test) showed that the mean salinity threshold of all seedling traits, EC*, increased markedly (P ≤ 0.001). For example, EC* increased 60% using K₂SiO₃ as compared to the control, with Spd and Pro having less of an effect on on EC* than K₂SiO₃. The mean EC value at which various seedling traits were reduced by 50% (i.e., EC₅₀) increased from 10.8 dS m⁻¹ for the control to 12.5, 12.5 and 12.1 dS m⁻¹ for the Pro, K₂SiO₃ and Spd pre-treatments, respectively. Statistically, the effects of Pro, K₂SiO₃, Spd on EC₅₀ were essentially the same. The effects of Asc, and LUsw on EC₅₀ were not significant compared to the control. The increased vigor of seedlings obtained by seed pre-treatment, particularly when using K₂SiO₃, should lead to more salt-tolerant plants and higher yield potentials in saline environments.

了解植物对盐分的反应，特别是在生长的早期，对优化盐分土壤中的作物产量至关重要。在本文中，我们定量研究了种子预处理减轻盐度对琉璃苣（Borago officinalis L.）种子发芽和随后幼苗生长的影响。使用Urmia盐湖水（LUsw），抗坏血酸（Asc），脯氨酸（Pro），硅酸钾（K ₂ SiO ₃）在9个盐度水平和5个种子预处理条件下进行了两个独立的实验）和亚精胺（Spd）。第一组实验用于获得最有效的种子萌发预处理。第二组实验研究了盐度和种子预处理浓度对出苗过程的综合影响。人们发现盐度对幼苗的生长具有相当大的抑制作用，但是对种子进行预处理可以减轻其中的一些影响。可以使用Maas和Hoffman（1977）的阈值斜率盐度响应函数以及van Genuchten和Hoffman（1984）的S形函数很好地描述幼苗对盐分的响应。A表示比较（使用Tukey检验）表明，所有幼苗性状的平均盐度阈值时，EC *，显着增加（P  ≤0.01）。例如，EC *与对照相比， 使用K ₂ SiO ₃提高60％，而Spd和Pro对EC *的影响小于K ₂ SiO ₃。各种幼苗性状降低50％（即EC ₅₀）时的平均EC值从对照的10.8 dS m ^-1增加到Pro，K ₂ SiO ₃和Spd的12.5、12.5和12.1 dS m ^-1。分别进行预处理。从统计学上讲，Pro，K ₂ SiO ₃，Spd对EC ₅₀的作用基本相同。Asc和LUsw对与对照相比，EC ₅₀并不显着。通过种子预处理获得的幼苗活力增强，尤其是在使用K ₂ SiO _3时，应导致更多的耐盐植物和在盐碱环境下更高的产量潜力。