The effect of silver nanoparticle on Fenugreek seed germination under salinity levels

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect s of silver nanoparticles for ameliorating negative effects of salinity on germination and growth of Fenugreek seeds. In order to investigate salinity stress on Fenugreek germination indices, an experiment was carried out in Iran from October 2014 to November 2014 at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, in the biotechnology Laboratory, to create salinity stress, sodium chloride (NaCl) at the levels of 0 (as control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 dS/m and Five levels of silver nanoparticles (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 μg mL^–1) on Fenugreek seed (Trigonella foenum-graecum); were tested Germination characteristics such as total germination (GT), Germination Speed Index (GSI), Shoot and Root of seedling long, Fresh Mass and Dry Mass were measured. Results showed the great effects of silver nanoparticles to improve salinity stress on Fenugreek seed germination. Results showed a significant reduction in germination percent and seedling growth due to the salinity stress while significantly increased with silicon nano-particles application. In without silver nanoparticle low level of salinity (0 dS/m) increased seed germination percentage, while the high levels (5, 10, 15 and 20 dS/m) inhibited the seed germination significantly. The results showed that the effect of AgNPs was significant on germination percentage in P ≤ 0.05. Overall, application of AgNPs was beneficial in improving salinity tolerance in the Fenugreek seedling and its application may stimulate the differences defense mechanisms of plants against salt toxicity.