Seed priming technique

Seed priming technique Abstract Seed priming is a technique by which seeds are partially hydrated to a point where germination processes begin but radical emergence does not occur. Priming can be found effective both for legumes and grain crops. A pot experiment was conducted under green house conditions at Pir Mehr Ali shah, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi during summer of 2007. The seeds were invigorated by traditional soaking (hydropriming), osmo-conditioning (soaking of seeds in aerated, low-water-potential solutions) using, potassium di-hydrogen phosphate KH2PO4, Mannitol, Polyethylene glycol (PEG), sodium molybdate (Na2MO4.2H2O) and hormonal priming by using salicylic acid (SA). The ranges of osmotic potential for all the priming treatments were -0.5 to -1.2 M Pa. All the invigoration treatments significantly affected plant vigor, biomass, root, shoot length and nodulation. Osmopriming using P @ 0.60% applied in the form of KH2PO4 significantly improved seed vigour in terms of mean emergence time (5.5 2 to 4.51 days), final germination percentage (74 to 89%) root and shoot length and nodulation (0 to 4 nodules seedling-1) followed by mannitol priming (Mannitol @ 2%). Overall all the seed priming techniques significantly improved the vigour of mungbean seedlings as compare to control. The use of polyethylene glycol is expensive and gave similar results as for dry seeding so it should be replaced by hydropriming in further experiments. It is recommended that nutrient-priming and osmopriming can be used as effective tool for invigoration of mungbean seeds, for better growth and seedling establishment. Key words: Osmo-priming, hydropriming, vigna radiata, seedling vigour, nodulation INTRODUCTION Seed priming is a practice by which seeds are partially hydrated to a point where germination processes begin but radical emergence does not occur (Harris et al., 2000). Seed priming can be found effective for legumes i.e., yields of Mungbean and Chickpea were increased substantially by priming seeds for 8 h before sowing (Harris et al., 1999; Musa et al., 2001; Rashid et al., 2004). Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) is grown on over 200,000 ha with production of more than 100,000 t under rainfed and irrigated conditions in Pakistan. Yields for the rainfed area are generally low and variable due to sparse, erratic rainfall and marginal soils. Mungbean production in Punjab Province is dependent mainly on surface irrigation but it is also grown under rain fed conditions. In the Southern region of Pakistan rainfall is scanty and mungbean is grown with surface irrigation only. Poor crop establishment is a major restraint for mungbean production (Naseem et. al., 1997; Rahmianna et al., 2000) and high yields can be associated with early vigor (Kumar et al., 1989). Improved seed invigoration techniques are being used to reduce the germination time, to get synchronized germination, improve germination rate, and improve seedling stand in many horticultural (Bradford et al. 1990; Rudrapal and Nakamura 1998) and field crops like wheat, maize (Aquilla and Tritto 1991; Basra et al. 2002) and more recently rice (Farooq et al. 2004). These invigoration techniques include hydropriming, osmoconditioning (Basra et al. 2005), osmohardening (Farooq et al. 2006) and hardening (Farooq et al. 2004). These treatments can also be employed for earlier and better nursery stand establishment (Lee et al. 1998). This study was initiated to explore the effects of aerated hydration, hormonal priming (salicylic acid), nutrient priming (Phosphorous and molybdenum loading) and osmo-conditioning on mungbean (vigna radiata) seed vigour under green house conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seed material Seeds of mungbean cultivar Chakwal Mung-97 (CH-MUNG 97) were obtained from Barani Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Chakwal. The seeds were sterilized by using 30% hypochlorite for five minutes and then washed three times with distilled water. Seed Treatments The following seed priming treatments were applied Nutrient priming The seeds were soaked in aerated solution of phosphorous (P @ 0.60 1.20 %) and molybdate (Mo @ 0.02 0.04 %). The sources for phosphorous and molybdenum were potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) and sodium molybdate (Na2MoO4.2H2O), respectively. Osmopriming The seeds were soaked in aerated solutions of mannitol (mannitol @ 2 % 4 %) and polyethylene glycole (Polyethylene glycol @ 5% 10%). Hormonal priming The seeds were soaked in aerated solution of salicylic acid (SA @ 10 20 ppm) Post treatment operations After seed treatments the seeds were given surface washing three times by distilled water. Aeration was also applied by pump. Air dried soil was placed in 10-cm tall plastic pots with 6-cm diameter. The soil used in the pot experiment was sandy loam having pH of 7.9. Soil was made friable by scratching the surface with a two cm wide table fork to a depth of 1-cm of moist soil. The seeds were also inoculated before sowing. Ten numbers of seeds were planted in each pot and thinned to six plants per pot. Similar amount of water applied in regular intervals to all pots under study. The plants were harvested 21 days after sowing (DAS), and seedlings root/shoot length were taken. The seedlings were dried at 75 oC for 48 hours and the dry matter was finally determined. The complete randomized design (CRD) was used in pot experiment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare treatment means. RESULTS The data showed that different seed priming treatments had significant (p There was significant (p There was significant (p The data depicts that seed priming had significant impact on the root as well as shoot length, 21 days after sowing (DAS). All the priming treatments significantly increased the root as well as shoot length of seedlings. The data revealed that T5 (P @ 0.60%) and T9 (mannitol @ 2 %) gave the best results. The lowest root length (4.56 cm) was observed in control. T4 (Mo @ 0.04%) showed lower root length than T2 and T3 (Mo @ 0.02 %) and higher from control. Treatment T6 (P @ 1.2%) showed lower root length than T5 (P @ 0.06%) and at par with T1 and T4. Hormonal priming using salicylic acid (SA @ 20 ppm) also showed lower root length than T7 (SA @ 10 ppm) and at par with T4 and T6. The data also showed that T10 (mannitol @ 4%) is lower than T9 (mannitol @ 2%) and at par with T7. The data also depicts that T12 (PEG @ 10%) showed lower root length as compare to T11 (PEG @ 5 %) which showed also higher root length than all other treatments except T2 and T9 (Figure 1). Maximum shoot length observed in the T5 (P @ 0.06 %) followed by T9 (mannitol @ 2%). The data also depicts the shortest shoot length was observed in the control. The data also revealed that T4 resulted in lower shoot length than T3 and T2. It is also evident that T6 is lower than T5 and at par with T3 and T2 (Figure 1). T8 showed higher shoot length than T7 and at par with T2, T3 and T6. Treatments T9 and T10 and T11, T12 also showed similar results. Discussion Earlier and more uniform germination and emergence was observed in primed seeds as indicated by lower MET and E50, higher germination percent and root and shoot dry weight (tables 1). Lesser MET and E50 specify the earlier and rapid germination. These findings support the prior work on canola (Brassica compestris) (Zheng et al., 1994), wheat (Triticum aestivum) (Nayyar et al., 1995) and rice (Oryza sativa) (Lee and Kim 2000; Basra et al., 2003) who described improved germination rate and percentage in seeds subjected to hydropriming and seed hardening for 24 h. This study revealed that osmo, nutrient and hormonal priming could invigorate mungbean seeds. One of the reasons for decreased MET is that during pre-sowing seed treatments the dormancy of the seed is broken and the seed bio-chemical processes commences, which lead to faster germination and emergence (Farooq et al., 2006). Seed priming ensured the proper hydration, which resulted in enhanced activity of a-amylase that hydrolyzed the macro starch molecules in to smaller and simple sugars. The availability of instant food to the germinating seed gave a vigorous start as indicated by lower E50 and MET in treated seeds (Farooq et al.,2006) during priming de novo synthesis of a-amylase is also documented (Lee and Kim, 2000). Early emergence as indicated by lower E50 and MET in treated seeds may be due to the faster production of germination metabolites (Saha et al. 1990; Lee Kim 2000; Basra et al. 2005) and better genetic repair, i.e. earlier and faster synthesis of DNA, RNA and proteins (Bray et al. 1989). Gray and Steckel (1983) also concluded that priming increased embryo length, which resulted in early initiation of germination in carrot seeds. The increased shoot and root length in primed plants can be due to metabolic repair of damage during treatment and that change in germination events i.e., changes in enzyme concentration and formation and reduction of lag time between imbibition and radicle emergence (Bradford et al., 1990). Treated seeds had stronger embryos that were able to more easily emerge from seeds (Harris et al., 2005). These results are also in line with the findings of Sekiya et al. (2009) who reported enhanced root and shoot length of seedlings obtained from P enriched seeds. To contribute to plant growth and development seed priming has been widely reported technique (Harris et al., 2005). Ajouri et al. (2004) reported a stimulation of P and Zn uptake, as well as an improved germination and seedling growth in barley after soaking seeds in water and in solutions containing 5-500 mM P. It has been also reported invigorated seeds had higher vigour levels (Ruan et al. 2002), which resulted in earlier start of emergence as high vigour seed lots performed better than low vigour ones (Hampton and Tekrony 1995). Yamauchi and Winn (1996) also reported positive correlation between seed vigour and field performance in rice. Earlier, Zheng et al. (2002) reported earlier and uniform emergence in rice seeds osmoprimed with KCl and CaCl2 and mixed salts under flooded conditions. Hydropriming improved the early and vigorous crop establishment in maize (Nagar et al. 1998) and Helichrysum bracteatum L. (Grzesik Nowak 1998). However, other studies resulted in poor emergence from hydroprimed Kentucky bluegrass seeds under field conditions (Pill Necker 2001). However Nascimento and West (1999) reported early germination of primed seeds but not recorded any improvement in the growth of seedlings in muskmelon seeds under laboratory conditions. Confounding results, where priming did not show any beneficial results, also reported by different research workers (Mwale et al., 2003; Giri and Schillinger, 2003). The increase of nodulation, seedling vigor and tolerance to stresses may depend on various factors occurring during priming treatment. One hypothesis is that benefits of priming can be due to metabolic repair of damage during treatment and that change in germination events i.e., changes in enzyme concentration and formation and reduces lag time between imbibition and radicle emergence (Bradford et al., 1990). One of the possible reasons for early nodule formation may be due to enhanced activity of a-amylase and sucrose synthase in primed seeds which may facilitate plant growth and vigor (Lee and Kim, 2000). From the present study it may be concluded that seed priming may enhance the seedling vigour of mungbean. Nutrient priming using phosphorous and osmopriming with mannitol were the most efficient priming treatments in this study. In further research work biochemical basis for the enhanced phenology of mungbean may be evaluated. REFERENCES Aquilla D. A., V. Tritto. 1991. Germination and biochemical activities in wheat seeds following delayed harvesting, ageing and osmotic priming. Seed Sci.Tech.19:73 82. Anonymous.2009. Agriculture statistics of Pakistan. Ministry of Food,Agriculture and Livestock. Economic wing, Islamabad. Pp. 46-47. Association of Official Seed Analysis (AOSA). 1998. Rules for testing seeds. J. Seed Tec.12:1-112. Association of Official Seed Analysis (AOSA).1983.Seed Vigor Testing Handbook. Contribution No. 32 to the Handbook on Seed Testing. Barber, S. A. 1995. Soil nutrient bioavailability, 2nd edn. Willey, New York Basra, S. M. A., M. Farooq, K. Hafeez and N. Ahmad. 2004. Osmohardening: A new technique for rice seed invigoration. Int. Rice Res.Notes.29:80 81. 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Great Gatsby and Araby Essay

In â€Å"Araby,† an allegorical short story from his compilation, Dubliners, author James Joyce depicts his homeland of Ireland as a paralyzing and morally filthy environment. The young protagonist is an unknowing victim of society’s preoccupation with materialism, and in his rush to grow up accepts its distorted views of wealth and love as truth. Conversely, Jay Gatsby, from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, tries to win back the heart of Daisy Buchanan through his obsessive attempts to repeat the past. In each work, the male lead resorts to monetary extremes to capture the attention of his female counterpart under the false notion that love can be purchased. While the boy hopes that a gift will win the affection of his friend’s sister, Gatsby desperately strives to woo Daisy with his bootlegging spoils. Some are able to escape the influence society exerts, while others remain fixated on vanity. Each author manipulates color and shade to epitomize t he materialism of adulthood and the confusion of love of wealth with genuine love. The protagonist of â€Å"Araby† fantasizes about growing up enough to attain the love of his friend’s sister. Because the young boy believes he is in love, he elevates himself above his peers. He isolates himself in his dark attic and watches his companions â€Å"playing below in the street,† their cries â€Å"weakened and indistinct † (Joyce 24). Although he tries to ignore them, the voices of his childhood freedom still reach the boy no matter how much he tries to separate himself. The boy discounts â€Å"some distant lamp or lighted window gleam[ing] below† on his peers, abandoning the light of childhood while he exercises a feeling of superiority (Joyce 23). By distancing himself from his coequals, he embarks on a vainglorious quest to prematurely reach adulthood, thereby reducing the value of childhood innocence. His quest, however, succeeds only in pressing him further into the darkness of adult ideals. Adults face greater challenges and have more responsibility than children do; it is easier for them to forsake their morals than to leave materialistic values behin d. Because they ignore their values, adults are of a far lesser innocence than the children they are meant to teach and thus exert a negative influence on their unknowing pupils. The boy learns from his surroundings that purchasing love is the only acceptable path to attaining happiness and growth. Mangan’s sister â€Å"turns the silver bracelet round and round her wrist,† drawing the boy into the superficiality of adulthood (Joyce 24). However, because he sees the girl as â€Å"defined by light,† he mistakenly confuses the ideas of wealth and happiness (Joyce 22). The combination of materialism and happiness makes it difficult to determine the meaning of either. Rather than developing a relationship based on mutual interest, the boy tries to buy the girl’s love. When he is unable to purchase a gift for her, he finds himself in a â€Å"completely dark† environment (Joyce 26). The boy immediately epiphanizes that he is â€Å"a creature driven and derided by vanity,† signifying that light can emerge out of darkness (Joyce 26). His cognizance no longer allows surrounding influences of materialism to grip him; he realizes love is not a commodity. Mistakes are necessary for moral growth, therefore the young boy needed to suffer vanity and the consequences of his own greed to realize that wealth alone cannot fulfill happiness. His challenges become the outlet through which he ascertains the shallowness of the adult world, ultimately subjugating his influences. By vanquishing them, the boy discerns the genuine love depicted by light. Fitzgerald juxtaposes the obsessively nostalgic Jay Gatsby with Joyce’s young boy who hastily looks forward to adulthood. Despite Gatsby’s seniority, he and the boy both believe they can purchase their beloveds’ affection. Gatsby views wealth as the equivalent of self-worth; his doomed sense of hope justifies his illusion. He optimistically watches the green light at the end of the Buchanan’s dock, â€Å"minute and far away,† with his â€Å"arms stretched out toward the dark water† (Fitzgerald 26). Gatsby reaches for Daisy with profound determination, but bases his resolve on the crooked belief that his grandiose home and expensive clothes will win her love. His materialistic concerns create an impassable gap, placing true love out of reach. Lights on the other side of the water appear greener and grander, causing Gatsby to ignorantly believe that is where happiness originates. The intrinsic confusion of wealth and happiness deprives Gatsby of a truly fulfilled life. Thinking his new affluence will please Daisy, Gatsby draws her attention to his new Rolls Royce. However, the association of Gatsby’s yellow car with â€Å"restlessness†¦with power†¦and finally with death† (Parkinson 41) foreshadows destruction. Even after Daisy accidentally kills Myrtle Wilson with the yellow car, Gatsby still fails to see the uncontrollable dangers of greed . Wealth only consumes those who attain it, spitting failure into their faces when it ceases to satiate their avarice . Gatsby’s picturesque opulence deteriorates to frustration because money cannot make him happy. Rather than accepting this conclusion, he dons an elegant wardrobe â€Å"which echoes Daisy’s attributes of white, gold, and silver† (Parkinson 47). Gatsby believes his â€Å"white flannel suit†¦and gold colored necktie† will attract Daisy under the guise of suave elegance (Fitzgerald 89). The double entendre, however, is that the gold necktie resting around his throat parallels wealth’s threat to choke off his credibility, sanity, and ultimately, life-force. Although Gatsby actively perpetuates his superficial ambition, Daisy simply allows life to unfold around her. Fitzgerald parallels Daisy’s floral namesake with her white exterior and tainted yellow interior. Wealth rots her to her core, though she maintains a pretense of purity, always â€Å"dressed in white† (Fitzgerald 127). Daisy enjoys her trivial existence only because she has the means to do so. Without wealth to distract her from her meaningless life, she would feel empty and worthless. Contentment based solely on the availability of money inevitably crumbles and fades away, landing in the colorless, desolate Valley of Ashes. With an ever-looming presence, the sign of Doctor T. J. Eckleberg looks over this valley of lost dreams through faded yellow glasses. No matter how willful the dreamer, visionaries with greedy ambitions must endure cruel judgment. These individuals poison their own lives and become soulless shells, unable to muster the same determination again. The green light he strives for becomes â€Å"distant and unattainable† even though Gatsby never truly gives up on winning back Daisy (Parkinson 46). The spoils of his wealth decay to worthlessness and loneliness; in failing to realize his mistakes, he leaves behind a sparsely attended funeral and an unprincipled legacy. Despite all that he fought for, Gatsby forsakes true happiness for the false love he derives from exploiting wealth.

Drug Use in Vietname

Drug use by the soldiers in the Vietnam War was very common. Drug use in the military has always been around, but in the Vietnam era it started to increase at an alarming rate. It is noted that there were many drugs used and abused during this time. These drugs include marijuana, cocaine, and heroine. Soldiers often used these drugs to kill the pain of many hardships such as injury during battle, loss of a fellow soldier or being away from home. Marijuana is legally considered a drug according to the federal Controlled Substances Act; however the use of it was treated differently from other drugs by American soldiers and military lawyers in Vietnam. (Brush) Marijuana was present in Vietnam long before the arrival of the Americans and the start of the war. Drug laws were poorly defined and the enforcement of these poorly defined laws had little priority in the Vietnamese criminal justice system. The Vietnamese Government had no control over marijuana and there was no central drug enforcement agency. According to a survey made in 1966 by the U. S. military command in the Saigon area showed that there were 29 fixed outlets for the purchase of marijuana. The use and culture of marijuana in Vietnam has often been considered part of the cultural regulations for use, sale, and protocol and there is no sense of illegal activity like there is in the U. S. Many American soldiers have noted that the Vietnamese people used marijuana freely and openly during the time. There are even stories of American soldiers smoking marijuana with the South Vietnamese civilians and soldiers (Brush). In 1963, soldiers started using marijuana during the advisory period of the war. This was the earliest noted time of drug use in the Vietnam War and began before the widespread use in the United States. As its popularity grew, Congressional investigations began. In 1967 an investigation by congress revealed 16 instances of marijuana use inside the Marine brig at Da Nang. The source was the Vietnamese who gave it to prisoners on working parties. It was first often distributed by the soldiers throwing it into passing vehicles in which prisoners were riding (Brush). Prisoners were not the only people eligible to get the ample drug. While driving through urban areas marines found marijuana easily from vendors selling it on the streets. Marines took the offense of marijuana more seriously than the army. While the marines were subjecting all marijuana users to Courts-Marshall, the army only subjected users and dealers of hard drugs to trial. Although the marines took a more harsh approach to the use of marijuana, it was a failure. By 1969 use of marijuana was no longer just a trend of rear area units, and a drug rehabilitation was established in Cua Viet. This quote from a senior officer shows the helplessness against the rising trend of drug use among soldiers. â€Å"I don't know what the solution is†¦. I don't know what the hell we are going to do. † (Brush) Marijuana was not the only drug problem during the Vietnam during the war. During 1970 and 1971, the media started to carry news of two new drug trends. The studies of the media showed a growing number of white, middle-class young people, in suburbs as well as inner cities, were said to be using or dealing heroin. And United States military personnel-primarily in Vietnam, but also at duty stations in the United States and throughout the world-were similarly said to be sniffing, smoking, or mainlining heroin in substantial numbers. (Brecher) The problem of drug use gained President Richard Nixon’s attention, and in 1971 he said this to Congress, â€Å"Even now, there are no precise national statistics on drug use and drug addiction in the United States, the rate at which drug use is increasing, or where and how this increase is taking place. Most of what we think we know is extrapolated from those few states and cities where the dimensions of the problem have forced closer attention, including the maintenance of statistics. † Also in 1971, anecdotal evidence revealed that heroin had become the must popular illicit drug among citizens and soldiers of the U. S. During the summer of 1971, the public was informed of the widespread heroin use and addiction among many of the United States armed forces in Vietnam. Public officials from the President of the United States announced that everything possible would be done to rehabilitate or cure addicted soldiers serving in the war. This shocking information about the drug addicted soldiers serving in the army started a massive rehabilitation plan. Richard Nixon released this plan to Congress in 1971 with this statement, â€Å"Rehabilitation: A New Priority†¦. I am asking the Congress for a total of $105 million in addition to funds already contained in my 1972 budget to be used solely for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug-addicted individuals†¦. The nature of drug addiction, and the peculiar aspects of the present problem as it involves veterans [of the Vietnam war], make it imperative that rehabilitation procedures be undertaken immediately. . . In order to expedite the rehabilitation program of Vietnam veterans, I have ordered the immediate establishment of †¦ immediate rehabilitation efforts to be taken in Vietnam†¦. The Department of Defense will provide rehabilitation programs to all servicemen being returned for discharge who want this help, and we will be requesting legislation to permit the military services to retain for treatment any individual due for discharge who is a narcotic addict. All of our servicemen must be accorded the right to rehabilitation. â€Å"

The Lucid Dreaming And How Can It Be A Method Of...

Introduction Those who experience lucid dreaming in the stage of REM sleep are aware of their dreams and able to control their dreams. Lucid dreaming could be a possible treatment for those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who suffer from nightmares. During lucid dreaming in a nightmare, the PTSD patients would be able to let go of their fear by recognizing the threats they have in their dreams are not real. PTSD patients can also transform their dreams into something more pleasant or try to wake up from their sleep. A case study proved this idea to be true; the reoccurring dreams the patients would experience were going away after they were introduced into lucid dreaming. Lucid dreaming could be difficult to accomplish, but there are several techniques that can trigger lucid dreaming. For a period of time, researchers have been pondering and searching for ways to help those who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. This topic is interesting to investigate lucid dreaming and how can it be a method of psychotherapy for posttraumatic stress disorder. During this research, online, primary, and book resources were used. Therefore, this essay will deal with the following research question: How can lucid dreaming be used as a method of psychotherapy in those who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder? What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? Post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that is developed after experiencing a