Non-thermal plasmas affect seed quality, plant growth and DNA methylation patterns in soybean

MARÍA C. PÉREZ PISÁ; CARLA ZILLI; V. IBÁÑEZ; A. VARELA; EZEQUIEL CEJAS; LEANDRO PREVOSTO; C. MARFIL; KARINA BALESTRASSE

Congreso; LIV Annual Meeting Argentine Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; 2018

Non-thermal plasmas are partially ionized gases, usually generated by low-current electrical discharges that can be sprayed onto biologicaltissues. They are a novel and promising technology that might be employed for seed treatment before sowing as they allow enhancing seedhealth while promoting germination and vigor in a fast, cost-effective and eco-friendly way. This work analyses the effects of two different coldplasma treatments (N2 for 3 min and O2 for 2 min) applied to soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] seeds on seed quality and growth parameters ofplants (6 and 20 days-old) grown from them. Comparing plasma treatments with the control (non-treated), the results showed improvements of10% in the number of normal seedlings, 2% in the germination rate, 4% in the germination index, 10% and 20% in vigor index I and IIrespectively and a decreased of 5% in the electrical conductivity of seeds. Plants grown from treated seeds exhibited a promoted growth in bothanalyzed stages: root length, total length and fresh weight increased 20%, 16% and 9% (respectively) in plants of 6 days and 16%, 10% and 8%(respectively) in plants of 20 days; leaf area and chlorophyll content in leaves of 20 days were also improved (4 and 20 %, respectively). MSAP(Methylation Sensitive Amplified Polymorphism) markers were assayed in order to investigate if the evaluated treatments induced epigeneticchanges. Preliminary results exhibited differential methylation patterns between plants grown from treated and non-treated seeds. The possiblerole of the epigenetic variability in the origin of the observed phenotypic differences will be discussed.