Effect of seed pre-treatment with plant growth compound regulators on seedling growth under drought stress

Abstract

The experiment aimed to evaluate the effect of different compound regulators on the germination rate, seedling morphology of two mustard (Brassica juncea L.) cultivars ('Felicia' and 'Prima') under simulated drought stress with PEG-6000. The eight commercial growth compound regulators (ALBIT, VERMISTIMD, ANTISTRESS, AGRINOS, REGOPLAN, BIOFOGE, STIMULATE, and FAST START) were pretreated seeds at recommended doses. The application of growth regulators promoted the growth of seedlings under drought stress but had no obvious effect on the germination rate of the two varieties. The root fresh weight, total root length, leaf area, stem length, and stem volume in 'Felicia' significantly increased with ANTISTRESS treatment by 24.28, 3.30, 24.70, 19.40, and 30.90%. In addition, the number of lateral roots reached the maximum with AGRINOS and REGOPLAN treatment compared with plants without regulators under drought conditions, which were 135.55 and 121.20%, respectively. For 'Prima', the application of FAST START had a remarkable effect on root fresh weight, total root length, lateral root number and primary root length, root surface area, leaf area, and stem volume by 17.62, 18.12, 211.20, 53.75, 28.57, 15.90, and 32.30%, respectively.

Keywords

• mustard
• drought stress
• plant growth compound regulators
• seedling morphology