Enhancing germination and vigor of sugar beet seeds through priming treatments under ambient storage

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Department of Agriculture, Velayat University, Iranshahr, Iran.

10.22034/jppb.2026.70625.1400

Abstract

Objective: Sugar beet is primarily cultivated from seeds, and one of its main challenges is the low germination rate caused by seed dormancy due to seed coat coverage. Seed priming is an effective method to overcome dormancy and enhance both germination percentage and speed. However, storing primed seeds reduces their longevity and accelerates deterioration. Therefore, determining the duration of priming effects during ambient storage is important. This study aimed to improve germination and seed vigor of sugar beet seeds and evaluate the storability of primed seeds.
Methods: The experiment was conducted in 2025 at the Seed Science and Technology Laboratory of Hamyaran Keshavarz Company in Zarand, Kerman, Iran. The experimental design was a completely randomized design with seven priming treatments (0.2% nano-urea for 1 hour, 0.3% seaweed extract for 1 hour, 20 ppm gibberellic acid for 24 hours, hydroelectropriming with a current of 15 V for 2 minutes, hydropriming for 12 hours, electropriming with a current of 20 V for 2 minutes, and 20 ppm gibberellic acid for 1 hour), along with the control treatment, each replicated four times with 100 seeds per replication.
Results: Nano-urea (0.2%), hydroelectropriming (15 V for 2 minutes), and seaweed extract (0.3%) had the largest positive effect on germination and seed vigor. The beneficial effects of priming significantly declined during storage, affecting germination, seed vigor, and the activities of antioxidant enzymes, such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase. Hydroelectropriming and nano-urea demonstrated the best seed viability retention over three months of storage.
Conclusion: Hydroelectropriming (15 V, 2 min) and nano-urea priming (0.2%, 1 h), as innovative and environmentally friendly methods, are recommended to maximize germination and vigor while preserving seed storability for three months, supporting sustainable sugar beet production.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Abdoli M. 2020.  Effect of aging of seed and hydro-priming on germination characteristics and activity of some antioxidant enzymes of hybrid corn (Zea mays L.). Iran J Seed Sci Res. 7: 146-155. https://doi.org/10.22124/jms.2020.4543
Aebi H. 1984. Catalase in vitro. In: Colowick SP, Kaplan NO, editors. Methods Enzymol. 105: 121-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0076-6879(84)05016-3
Ahmed W, Butt MA, Khalid S, Hussain I, Liaqat H, Rehman AU. 2023. Nano-urea seed priming enhances wheat germination and vigor under drought stress. J Plant Nutr. 46: 1234-1245. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2023.2187654
Al-Maskri AYA, Khan MM, Khan IA, Al-Habsi K. 2003. Effect of accelerated ageing on viability, vigor (RGR), lipid peroxidation and leakage in carrot (Daucus carota L.) seeds. Int J Agric Biol. 5: 580-584.
Chance B, Maehly AC. 1955. Assay of catalases and peroxidases. In: Colowick SP, Kaplan NO (eds) Methods Enzymol. 2: 764-75. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470110171.ch14
Charkhandaz S, Sorkheh K. 2022. Expression pattern of key gene(s) of GA biosynthesis and brassinosteroid pathway influences in germination and growth-promoting in response to Ascophyllum nodosum extract. Crop Biotechnol. 11(3): 35-51. https://doi.org/10.30473/cb.2022.63466.1874
Chu C, Poore RC, Bolton MD, Fugate KK. 2022. Mechanism of sugarbeet seed germination enhanced by hydrogen peroxide. Front Plant Sci. 13: 888519. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.888519
Das S, Prabha D. 2024. Effect of ageing and priming on seed germination and vigor in onion (Allium cepa L.). Vegetos. 35: 83-93. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42535-024-00956-7
Dhindsa RS, Plumb-Dhindsa P, Thorpe TA. 1981. Leaf senescence: correlated with increased levels of membrane permeability and lipid peroxidation, and decreased levels of superoxide dismutase and catalase. J Exp Bot. 32: 93-101. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/32.1.93
Garcia D, Zhao Y, Zhao S, Chau Ming L, Huang D. 2021. Hydroelectrostatic hybrid priming stimulates germination performance via ABA and GA regulation: new promising evidence for tomato gene expression. Curr Plant Biol. 27: 100215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpb.2021.100215
Hussain S, Zheng M, Khan F, Khaliq A, Fahad S, Peng S, Huang J, Cui K, Nie L. 2015. Benefits of rice seed priming are offset permanently by prolonged storage and the storage conditions. Sci Rep. 5: 8101. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep08101
Jatana BS, Grover S, Ram H, Baath GS. 2024. Seed priming: molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Agronomy. 14: 2901. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14122901
Karimi MR, Sabokdast M, Korang Beheshti H, Abbasi AR, Bihamta MR. 2025. Seed priming with salicylic acid enhances salt stress tolerance by boosting antioxidant defense in Phaseolus vulgaris genotypes. BMC Plant Biol. 25: 489. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12870-025-06376-2
Milošević M, Vujaković M, Karagić Đ. 2010. Vigor tests as indicators of seed viability. Genetika. 42: 103-118. https://doi.org/10.2298/GENSR1001103M
Nile SH, Baskar V, Selvaraj D, Nile A, Jaya L, Kai G. 2022a. Nano-priming as emerging seed priming technology for sustainable agriculture. Front Plant Sci. 13: 856072. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.856072
Nile SH, Thiruvengadam M, Wang Y, Samynathan R, Shariati MA, Rebezov M, Kai G. 2022b. Nano-priming as emerging seed priming technology for sustainable agriculture—recent developments and future perspectives. J Nanobiotechnol. 20: 254.
Qureshi A, Singh DK, Dwivedi S, Khan SA, Srivastava A, Khan MA. 2023. Nano-fertilizers reduce conventional NPK requirements by 40-50% in primed cereal crops. Nanomaterials. 13: 682. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano13040682
Rossi L, Fedenias C, Gharbi N, Ma X, Teixeira C, Fujita T. 2022. Nano-urea upregulates stress tolerance genes (DREB, LEA) during maize seed germination. Front Plant Sci. 13: 945321. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.945321
Santos MDAD, Oliveira ICD, Nogueira GA, Silva JBD, Candido ACDS, Alves CZ. 2019. Teste do pH do exsudato em sementes de arroz. Rev Caatinga. 32: 960-965. https://doi.org/10.1590/1983-21252019v32n412rc
Seleiman MF, Al-Suhaibani N, Ali S, Akmal M, Haider FU, Alotaibi M. 2021. Nano-urea improves seed germination and seedling vigor by 25-40% compared to hydropriming. Plants. 10: 2698. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants10122698
Shi L, Cao S, Chen W, Yang Z. 2014. Blue light induced anthocyanin accumulation and expression of associated genes in Chinese bayberry fruit. Sci Hortic. 179: 98-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scienta.2014.09.022
Shokouhian A, Omidi H. 2021. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) germination indices and physiological properties affected by priming and genotype under salinity stress. Not Bot Horti Agrobo. 49: 12063. https://doi.org/10.15835/nbha49312063
Soliman AR, Abdelraouf KM, Hadifa AF, Aljahdali N, Al-Amri S, El-Ramady H. 2021. Nanoparticle penetration enhances water uptake and reduces T50 germination by 20-30% in primed seeds. Agronomy. 11: 1842. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11091842
TeKrony DM. 1969. Seed development and germination of monogerm sugar beets (Beta vulgaris L.) as affected by maturity. JASSBT. 15(3): 345-352.
Yan M. 2017. Prolonged storage reduced the positive effect of hydropriming in Chinese cabbage seeds stored at different temperatures. S Afr J Bot. 111: 313-315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2017.04.005
Zahra A, Bano A, Al-Yasi H, Nahar K, Alharbi B, Fujita M. 2020. Nano-urea enhances nutrient uptake efficiency and seedling emergence across multiple crops. Nanoscale Res Lett. 15: 189. https://doi.org/10.1186/s11671-020-03412-8
Zhang E, Zhu X, Wang W, Sun Y, Tian X, Chen Z, Yan M. 2023. Metabolomics reveals the response of hydroprimed maize to mitigate the impact of soil salinization. Front Plant Sci. 14: 1109460. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2023.1109460
Zhao S, Garcia D, Zhao Y, Huang D. 2021. Hydro-electro hybrid priming promotes carrot (Daucus carota L.) seed germination by activating lipid utilization and respiratory metabolism. Int J Mol Sci. 22: 11090. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222011090
 
 
Journal of Plant Physiology and Breeding

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 21 May 2026

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics