The effect of carbon nanotubes seed priming on germination and photosynthetic pigmentation of maize hybrids under drought stress

To investigation the effect of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) seed priming to enhance seed germination quantity and quality of corn hybrids under drought stress, an experiment was conducted as factorial based on completely randomized design at Seed Technology Laboratory of Shahed University, Tehran, Iran. Drought stress induced by -0.5 and -1 Mpa polyethylene glycol solution on Fajr and Dehghan maize hybrids and the seeds primed by 25 and 50 mg/L CNTs. Nano-priming under drought stress was effective on germination percentage and rate, weight and length, chlorophyll a, b, and total chlorophyll and carotenoid contents of maize seedlings. Application of 25 mg/L CTNs at -1 Mpa drought stress effectively enhanced germination percentage of maize seed. Also, application of 50 mg/L CTNs improved photosynthetic pigmentation at -1 Mpa drought stress. Generally, CTNs priming improved seed germination traits and photosynthetic pigmentation of maize seedlings under drought stress conditions. Therefore, priming by 25 mg/L CTNs is recommended to improve maize seeds germination indices in arid and semi-arid regions.