Effects of light and temperature treatments on germination and physiological traits of stevia seedling (Stevia rebuadiana Bertoni) |
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| Authors: | M. Aghighi Shahverdi H. Omidi H. Mosanaiey S. E. Mousavi M. Ghasemzadeh |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Agricultural College and Medicinal Plant Research Center, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran;2. Department of Agronomy, Agriculture Faculty, Islamic Azad University of Gorgan Branch, Iran |
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| Abstract: | Light and temperature are among the environmental factors affecting germination of seeds and seedling growth. Therefore, this experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of light (light, dark, and combined light and dark) and temperature (15, 20, 25, and 30?°C) treatments on seed germination indices and physiological traits of stevia. With increasing temperature to 25?°C, percentage and rate of germination, seedling length, and vigor index increased. Also, dark and integrated treatments light and dark conditions caused increased all traits, except for the mean germination time. The highest proline and protein contents were achieved under light conditions at 15 and 30?°C, respectively. With increasing temperature, the activity of antioxidant enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase increased. The highest activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase were observed under light condition. In contrary, the highest peroxidase activity was observed under dark condition. Overall, the results showed that dark and combined dark and light conditions at 25?°C improved the physiological characteristics of the plant that can increase germination indices. |
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| Keywords: | antioxidant activity cardinal temperatures proline protein seed vigor |
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