Effect of seed treatment with chitosan on the growth of rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings cv. INCA LP-5 in saline medium

Abstract

The chitosan is widely used in agriculture for having a strong fungistatic effect, also it has other properties such as extending the post harvest life of fruits and vegetables and stimulating the plant growth, among others. However, the use of this biopolymer for inducing salinity tolerance has been few studied, so the objective of this work was to check if chitosan-treated seeds are able to reverse the effects caused by salinity in the rice seedling growth and some biochemical indicators associated to this response. To do this, rice (Oryza sativa L.) seeds variety INCA LP-5 were treated for 24 hours with different concentrations of chitosan (0, 100 and 500 mg L-1). The germinated seeds were transferred to pots containing diluted Hoagland nutritive solution supplemented or not with NaCl 100 mmol L-1 and they were placed in a growth chamber with controlled conditions. The growth and biochemical indicators were evaluated eleven days after stress treatment. Seeds treated with chitosan 100 mg L-1 stimulated shoot length and dry matter in saline medium grown seedlings and lowered malondialdehyde and increased proline levels. Both chitosan concentrations enhanced the activities of catalase and peroxidase enzymes, although a higher effect was obtained with chitosan 500 mg L-1.