Association of DNA biosynthesis with planting value enhancement in hydroprimed maize seeds

Inadequate plant stand establishment due to insufficient germination is an important bottleneck in achieving the potential yields, specifically under uncertain growing conditions. Hydropriming has been publicized as a useful tool to alleviate the stress-induced consequences. Association of DNA biosynthesis in hydroprimed seeds of maize; hybrid, PEHM 5 and its parental lines (CM150 and CM151) was studied. Seeds were hydroprimed at 25 °C for 30 h and half of them were surface dried while the other half were redried back to the original moisture contents. The treated and untreated seeds were evaluated for; germination test, mean germination time, vigour index and DNA levels in embryos of fully matured seeds. Both the treatment strategies significantly enhanced the planting value of maize seeds. Vigour index I revealed significant correlation with G2/G1 ratio whereas significant negative correlation between G2/G1 ratio and mean germination time was observed. Large amounts of 2C DNA signals in flow cytometric analysis divulged that most cells might had arrested in the cell cycle at the pre synthetic G1 phase of nuclear division. Augmentation of 4C signal in the embryonic region was noticed after imbibition that could be ascribed to cells entering the synthetic phase of nuclear division. The embryonic cells showed increased 4C:2C ratios after 30 h of imbibition. Apparently, DNA synthesis preceded germination. In dry seeds, DNA histograms revealed both a 2C signal and a considerable 4C peak. A priming period of 30 h in distilled water considerably enhanced the rate and uniformity of germination in both surface dried and redried treatment strategies. Upon priming, the ratio of 4C:2C increased during the 30 h priming period, though the level in case of redried seeds did not reach the level obtained after hydration in water without drying back. However, the 4C: 2C ratio was constant after redrying the seeds to the original moisture content, indicating that the chromosomal material in the embryonic cells had stably ceased cell cycle activity at the G2 phase. The present results indicate that the beneficial effects of priming on seedling performance could be associated with the action of replicative DNA synthesis processes prior to germination.