The Effect of magnetopriming on seed germination of Hyssopus officinalis under osmotic stress

In the current work, the effect of magneto-priming has been studied on seed germination of hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.) - a medicinal plant from Lamiaceae - in normal condition and osmotic stress. Dehydration is a consequence of osmotic stress. The primed seeds with magnetic field (45, 90, 200, 250 mT) upon different times (5, 10, 20 and 30 min) were allowed to germinate and grow in Petri-dishes for 10 days under normal condition or osmotic stress due to mannitol (100, 200, 300 mM). At these experiments, rate and percentage of germination, length and dry weight of shootlet and rootlet of seedlings and seed vigor index were evaluated. Magnetic field (MF) (200mT/5min) significantly increased percent germination (%) and seed vigor index (%) at normal condition. Moreover, MF significantly increased seedling dry weight (25%) and rootlet length (36%). Under osmotic stress, MF significantly augmented seed germination percentage by 14%. It would be concluded that at normal condition, seed priming of H. officinalis with optimal MF could increase percent germination and promote rootlet growth which subsequently causes to improved growth through stronger establishment of seedlings and higher water absorbance from medium. Furthermore, MF would be effective for early growth of H. officinalis via enhancing seed germination under osmotic stress and/or water stress.