Effect of pre-chilling and gibberellic acid on seed germination of two cultivars of European Goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea L.)

Salinity is one of the main abiotic stress limits plant growth and production by changing ionic and osmotic balance. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of osmotic pretreatment on germination indices of celery seeds under salinity stress as a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replications. Osmotic pre-treatment factors were: osmotic solution (1%) of KNo3, KCl, CaCl2 and CaSO4 and control (without pre-treatment) and salinity factor at four levels including concentrations of 0, 50, 100 and 150 mmol NaCl. Seed germination rate, seed germination percentage, radicle and plumule length, radicle and plumule dry weight, Kutowski-coefficient, salinity tolerance index, allometric coefficient and seed vigor index were measured. Results showed that under normal conditions, osmotic pretreatment had no positive effect on germination percentage and germination rate. Germination indices significantly decreased with increasing salinity stress, so that no germination observed in the 150 mM salinity treatment. The positive effect of osmotic pre-treatments on seed germination indices was significant. In non-stress conditions, calcium chloride treatment increased salinity resistance by 100% and in 50 mM stress by 150%, but at 100 mM salinity, potassium nitrate had a better effect than other treatments. There was a positive and significant correlation between all germination indices. In general, under salinity stress pretreatment of celery seeds can be used as a beneficial solution.