Investigation of mechanisms involved in seed germination enhancement, enzymatic activity and seedling growth of rice (Oryza Sativa L.) using LPDBD (Ar+Air) plasma
Introduction
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the leading cultivated cereal food crops in Bangladesh. The position of Bangladesh is sixth in the world due to the production of an adequate amount of rice. It is the most staple food for almost half of the world's population. It supplies 60% of calories to the consumed people all over Asia [1]. Additionally, it contains large amount of starch and mainly functions by binding with water which helps gelatinization of temperature, paste clarity, paste viscosity, solubility and swelling power [2]. In most farming systems in our country, the rice seeds are immersed in the water to break down the dormancy for influencing the seeds to be germinated, and then the germinated seeds are sown in the bed.
Thereafter, seedlings are transplanted to the desired field. Due to the increased population gradually, and for the rapid economic development, it is the key need to increase food production. To increase the rice production, it is necessary to study both in storage and safety. The rapid production depends on various factors including photosynthesis, conversion of assimilates to biomass, and segregation of assimilates to grains [3]. For this reason, several physiological, biochemical and enzymatic changes were required. The conventional methods involve the improvement of irrigation and the rapid use of chemical fertilizer [[4], [5], [6], [7], [8]] which harass the environment. Another method is to physically breakdown of seed dormancy [9].
Plasma technology can be a solution to the current problems. Atmospheric pressure non-thermal plasma promotes seed germination and stimulates plant growth in some crops without the use of nonorganic fertilizer [10]. Additionally, it is known that the Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet (APPJ) can cure fungus in plants and improve resistance to some plant diseases [11,12] reported that the seedling growth during germination involves two key steps (a) primary cell elongation of the axial part of the embryo, and (b) simultaneous or delayed cell division in the radicle meristem. Plasma technology is drawing much attention because of its potentiality to treat the seeds in a chemical-free way to grow plants. Besides, Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasmas (APCPs) are effective to seed germination, water uptake mechanisms, and drought tolerance [13,14]. Improvement in seed germination and growth has been reported in a few plant species [[15], [16], [17], [18]] by APCP. It was [19] reported that the seed germination is the initiation of embryo breaking the dormant stage which always start with the imbibition of water. Seed germination activity involves several physiological and biochemical changes, such as - protein synthesis, enzyme activation and starch metabolism [20]. However, Low Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge (LPDBD) technique is a vital source of non-thermal plasma due to its stability and high volume capacity as compared to Atmospheric Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge (APDBD) source. Its potential effects are also applicable to the environment and energy conversion [[21], [22], [23]].
To the best of our knowledge, the effects of rice seeds treatment with specifically LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma on seed germination, seedling growth, total soluble protein and sugar, and antioxidant enzyme activities, altogether, have not been reported yet. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma on the germination rate and growth of rice plantlets and to optimize the gas composition, frequency and treatment time to produce LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma to treat rice seeds for agronomic improvement.
Section snippets
Plasma production chamber
The schematic diagram represents the generation of LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma is shown in Fig. 1. Where one copper disk type electrode (diameter 9 mm, thickness 0.5 mm) was placed at the lower end of the test tube (diameter 12 mm, length 50 mm).
Another copper disk electrode (diameter 8 mm, thickness 0.5 mm) was covered by a glass tube (thickness 1 mm) and placed at the upper end of the discharge tube as shown in Fig. 1. The electrode spacing between the two electrodes was maintained at 30 mm. A
Species identifications
The emitted spectra from the Low Pressure Dielectric Barrier Discharge, Ar and Air plasmas were shown in Fig. 2. For the species identification produce ROS and RNS in the LPDBD plasma where the gases composition Ar: 60% and Air: 40% was used. Then it produced plasmas at voltage: 3 kV, electrode spacing: 30 mm, pressure (∼10torr) is depicted. It was observed from the spectrum that the major electronic transitions of nitrogen second positive system N2(C3Πu–N2B3Πg) in the range of 294–380 nm and
Discussion
For the better crop production and crop expansion plasma technology is a new and effective tool for the improvement of the agronomic characteristics in different crop species. The role and mechanistic basis of LPDBD plasma for agronomic improvement in rice was never previously investigated. The present study was undertaken to reveal the effectiveness of LPDBD plasma to enhance the seed germination, growth and antioxidant activity of rice plantlets. This was expected to provide a theoretical and
Conclusion
LPDBD (Ar + Air) plasma treatment has changed the outermost seed coat of rice that is the reason to improve the germination and seedling growth rates of rice. Plasma treatments have the potential ability to water uptake, thinning seed coat, widening micropyles, and enhancing adsorption, diffusion and reactive oxygen and reactive nitrogen species in the seed coat to breakdown the seed dormancy. LPDBD plasma consequently increases the soluble sugar and protein content and also triggers the H2O2
Declaration of competing interest
None of the authors has any financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias the content of the paper.
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indicates equal contribution.