Influence of priming on Eucalyptus spp seeds' tolerance to salt stress

Abstract

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of priming on the germination of Eucalyptus urophylla and of hybrid E. urophylla × E. grandis seeds under salt stress. Two osmotic potentials (-1.0 and -1.5 MPa) were tested, using PEG 6000 for 1 and 3 days. After priming, seeds were germinated under salt stress in a NaCl solution at 0.0 (control), -0.5, -0.75 and -1.0 MPa potentials, at 25 °C. Seed germination and germination speed index decreased as the water potential of the germination medium decreased. However, E. urophylla was more tolerant to salt stress; it showed a higher germination percentage under all tested potentials, when compared to the hybrid. The osmotic conditioning at -1.0 MPa for three days was more effective when E. urophylla x E. grandis was germinated in a salt solution at -1.0 MPa, indicating that this treatment was more effective in inducing tolerance to salt stress.