Department of Seed Science and Technology, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, 736165, India.
Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Botany, Raiganj University, Raiganj, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal, 733134, India.
Plant Cell Rep. 2022 Jan;41(1):53-73. doi: 10.1007/s00299-021-02798-y. Epub 2021 Oct 15.
Seed priming has long been explored as an effective value-added potential technique that results in improved germination, reduced seedling emergence time, shortened crop duration, increased stress tolerance and eventually increased higher grain production. However, the wider applicability of water or chemical-based conventional methods of seed priming is often restricted considering its deleterious effects on post-treatment storability or agricultural pollution due to the persistence of chemicals in plant systems or in the environment. In this context, the utilization of physical methods of seed priming for enhancing plant productivity has created a new horizon in the domain of seed technology. Being eco-friendly and cost-effective approaches, priming with extra-terrestrial or physical agents such as ionizing radiation such as X-rays and gamma rays and non-ionizing radiation such as ultrasonic wave, magnetic field, microwaves, and infrared light offers many advantages along with ensuring enhanced production over conventional methods. Ultraviolet radiations, bridging between ionizing and non-ionizing radiation, are important electromagnetic waves that would also be an effective priming agent. Non-ionizing radiation has certain biological advantages over ionizing radiation since it does not generate charged ions while passing through a subject, but has enough energy to cause biological effects. Extensive research works to study the effects of various non-ionizing physical priming methods are required before their wider exploitation in agriculture. With this background, this review aims to highlight the current understanding of non-ionizing physical methods of seed priming and its applicability to combat present-day challenges to achieve agro-ecological resilience.
种子引发长期以来一直被探索作为一种有效的增值潜力技术，它可以提高发芽率，减少幼苗出土时间，缩短作物生长周期，提高抗逆性，最终提高更高的粮食产量。然而，由于化学物质在植物系统或环境中的持久性，水或基于化学物质的传统种子引发方法的更广泛适用性通常受到限制，因为这些方法对种子处理后的储存能力或农业污染有不良影响。在这种情况下，利用物理方法进行种子引发来提高植物生产力，在种子技术领域开辟了一个新的领域。作为一种环保且具有成本效益的方法，使用外星或物理引发剂，如电离辐射（如 X 射线和伽马射线）和非电离辐射（如超声波、磁场、微波和红外线）进行引发，除了确保比传统方法提高产量外，还具有许多优势。紫外线辐射是介于电离辐射和非电离辐射之间的重要电磁波，也将是一种有效的引发剂。非电离辐射比电离辐射具有某些生物学优势，因为它在穿过物体时不会产生带电离子，但具有足够的能量来引起生物学效应。在农业中更广泛地利用各种非电离物理引发方法之前，需要进行广泛的研究工作来研究这些方法的效果。基于此，本综述旨在强调非电离物理种子引发方法的当前理解及其在应对当前挑战以实现农业生态弹性方面的适用性。
