The effect of maize priming on germination characteristics, catalase and peroxidase enzyme activity, and total protein content under salt stress

We aimed to investigate the effect of maize priming on germination characteristics, catalase and peroxidase enzyme activity and foliar protein content under salt stress. A twofold experiment with a randomized factorial design and 3 replications was conducted. Maize characteristics such as final germination percentage (FGP), germination rate (GR), germination index (GI) and vigor index (VI), and weight of seedlings and radicals were recorded. Then, the effect of priming and salt stress on the antioxidant enzymes such as catalase and peroxidase and the total protein content were investigated in the fourth leaf. We found that salicylic priming and salt stress influenced FGP, GR, GI, VI, the fresh weight of seedlings and radicles, catalase and peroxidase enzyme activity and the total protein content. The highest amount of FGP, GR and GI were related to seeds primed with 1 and 2 mM salicylic acid planted under stress-free conditions. The seeds primed with 1 and 2 mM salicylic acid and placed in 1% salt stress showed the highest VI. Moreover, the highest fresh weight pertained to the seeds primed with 2 mM salicylic acid and placed in 2% salt condition. Seeds which were not pretreated with salicylic acid and were planted under salt stress of 1.5 g/kg wet soil demonstrated the highest catalase and peroxidase activity. The seeds in the control group (not treated with salicylic acid and NaCl) had the highest total protein content.