Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D Student, Faculty of Sciences, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran.

2 Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran.

3 Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, Lorestan University, Khoramabad, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction
Beans in many developing countries as an important source of protein for numerous plants. Bean cultivation in Iran is about 240 thousand hectares with an average yield of 150 kg/he. Germination is an important stage in the life cycle of the plant and can have a significant impact on production and yield. Quality of seed germination has a significant impact on plant growth traits. It is reported that germination of legumes such as beans directly affected by unfavorable environmental conditions such as drought and salinity are located. In several studies, the use of methanol as a carbon source for growth and crop yield under drought stress conditions is recommended. Methanol external application directly with the metabolic processes of plant growth and development, as well as the processes associated with defense mechanisms such as the activation of genes involved in the biosynthesis of jasmonic acid is linked. Some studies have shown that intake of methanol can improve the efficiency of nutrient uptake, especially in the face of growing environmental stress. Given that, there are numerous reports in connection with a positive impact on the vegetative phase methanol plant in Iran; however, few studies exist on the effects of methanol on germination indices. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of methanol on indices of bean seed germination under drought stress.
 
Materials and methods
To investigate the effects of methanol and drought stress caused by PEG 6000 on germination indicators beans (cv. COS16) experiment factorial basis of completely randomized design in the summer at the Khatam Alanbia University of Technology. Parameters studied include different levels of ethanol contains: control (0), 10, 20 and 30 percent by volume and drought stress caused by PEG 6000 (0, -3 and -6 Bar). Drought stress using PEG 6000 at 25 ° C and the equation was applied Michael and Kaufman. Visiting of the samples once daily for 14 days and the number of germinated seeds were recorded at each visit. On the final day of testing, root and shoot were separated from the seeds and the germination indices such as germination percent, germination speed, radicle length, plumule length, radicle dry weight, plumule dry weight and endosperm consumption were measured.
 
Results and discussion
Analysis of variance showed a significant effect of drought stress and the use of methanol on germination percent, germination speed, radicle length, plumule length, radicle dry weight, plumule dry weight and endosperm consumption. The results showed that the interaction effects at all levels of drought stress, levels of 20 and 30 percent methanol lead to a significant reduction in germination indices bean. Drought stress at -6 bar, leading to a significant decrease in germination percentage, germination speed, radicle length, plumule length, radicle dry weight, plumule dry weight and endosperm consumption in comparison with treatment without water stress. In general, the results of this study showed that the use of methanol at germination stage was not involved not only in reducing the negative impacts of drought stress, but also non-drought stress conditions, the germination of beans had negative effects.
Conclusion
In this study, the results showed that aqueous solution of methanol under water stress treatments (0, -3 and -6 bar) leads to a significant reduction in all parameters evaluated in bean plants. According to research showing that methanol, seedling stage and flowering plants increased the productivity and yield. In this study, it was found that an aqueous solution of methanol in addition to no role in reducing the negative impacts of drought stress on germination of beans, but also leads to germination indices were lower.

Keywords

Agrawal, R.L., 1991. Seed Technology. Second edition, Oxford and IBH press. New York and London, 445 pp.
Ahmadpour, R., Hosseinzadeh, S.R., Armand, N., 2016 Evaluation of Methanol role in reducing the negative effects of water deficit stress in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.). Journal of Plant Process and Function. 5 (17), 1-13. [In Persian with English Summary].
Ahmadpour, R., Hosseinzadeh, S.R., Armand, N., Fani, E., 2015. Effect of methanol on germination characteristics of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) under drought stress. Iranian Journal of Seed Research. 2, 83-96. [In Persian with English Summary].
 
Albrecht, S.L., 1995. Effects of foliar ethanol application on crop yield. Crop Science. 35, 42-46.
Auld, D.L., Bettis, B.L., Crock, J.E., Kephart, K.D., 1988. Planting date and temperature effects on germination, emergence, and seed yield of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Journal of Agriculture. 80, 909-914.
Bagheri, A., Mahmoudi, A., Ghezeli, F., 2001. Common Bean: Research for Crop Improvement. Publications Jahad University of Mashhad. [In Persian].
Bibi, N., Hameed, A., Ali, H., Iqbal, N., Haq, M.A., Atta, B.M., Shah, T.M., Alam, S.S., 2009. Water stress induced variations in protein profiles of germinating cotyledons from seedlings of chickpeas genotypes. Pakistan Journal of Botany. 41, 731-736.
David, C., 2010. The effect of gibberellins (GA3 and GA47) and ethanol on seed germination of Rosa eglanteria and Rosa glauca. Journal of Plant Growth Regulation. 41, 1-10.
De, F., Kar, R.K., 1994. Seed germination and seedling growth of mung bean (Vigna radiate) under water stress induced by PEG-6000. Seed Science and Technology. 23, 301-304.
Donohue, K., Rubio De Casas, R., Burghardt, L., Kovach, K., Willis, C.G., 2010. Germination, post germination adaptation, and species ecological ranges. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 41, 293-319.
Downie, A., Miyazaki, S., Bohnert, H., John, P., Coleman, J., Parry, M., Haslam, R., 2004. Expression profiling of the response of Arabidopsis thaliana to methanol stimulation. Journal of Phytochemistry. 65, 2305–2316.
Fabian, A., Jager, K., Barnabas, B., 2008. Effects of drought and combined drought and heat stress on germination ability and seminal root growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) seedlings. Journal of Acta Biological. 52, 157-159.
Gamze, O.K.U., Mehmet Demir, K.A.Y., Mehmet A.T.A., 2005. Effects of salt and drought stresses on germination and seedling growth of pea (Pisum sativum L.). Turkish Journal of Agriculture. 29, 237-242.
Gan, Y.T., Miller, P.R., Stevenson, F.C., McDonald, C.L., 2002. Seedling emergence, pod development and seed yields of chickpea and dry pea in a semi arid environment. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 82, 531-553.
Gout, E., Albert, S., Blingy, R., Rebeille, P., Nonomura, A.R., 2000. Metabolism of methanol in plant cells. Plant Physiology. 123, 287-296.
Hosseinzadeh, S.R., Amiri, H., Ismaili, A., 2016. Effect of vermicompost fertilizer on photosynthetic characteristics of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under drought stress. Photosynthetica. 54 (1), 87-92.
Hosseinzadeh, S.R., Salimi, A., Ganjeali, A., 2011. Effects of foliar application of methanol on morphological characteristics of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under drought stress. Environmental Stresses in Crop Sciences. 4, 140-150. [In Persian with English Summary].
Hosseinzadeh, S.R., Salimi, A., Ganjeali, A., Ahmadpour, R., 2014. Effects of foliar application of methanol on photosynthetic characteristics chlorophyll fluorescence and chlorophyll content of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) under drought stress. Iranian Journal of Plant Biology. 5(18), 115-132. [In Persian with English summary].
Kafi, M., Nezami, A., Hosaini, H., Masomi, A., 2005. Physiological effects of drought stress by polyethylene glycol on germination of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) genotypes. Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research. 3, 69-80. [In Persian with English summary].
Khalid, M.N., Iqbal, H.F., Tahir, A., Ahmad A.N., 2001. Germination potential of chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) under saline condition. Journal of Biology Science. 4, 395-396.
Liga, M.V., Eraso I., Sturte, G.W., 2003. Effect of ethanol on the growth and development. Seed Science and Technology. 21, 427-435.
Masoumi, A., Kafi, M., Khazaei, H.R., 2008. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) germination responses to water stress induced by polyethylenglycol 6000. Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research. 1(2), 453-462. [In Persian with English summary].
Mehrafarin, A., Naghdi Badi, H., Noormohammadi, G., Zand, E., Rezazadeh, S., Qaderi, A., 2011. Effects of environmental factors and methanol on germination and emergence of Persian Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.). African Journal of Agricultural Research. 6(19), 4631-4641.
Michael B.E., Kaufman M.R., 1976. The osmotic potential of polyethylenglycol-6000. Plant Physiology. 51, 914-916.
Nadali, I., Paknejad, F., Moradi, F., Vazan, S., 2010. Effect of Methanol on Yield and Some Quality Characteristics of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.) cv. Rasoul in Drought and Non-Drought Stress Conditions. Journal of Seed and Plant Improvement. 26, 95-108. [In Persian with English summary].
Nonomura, A.M., Benson, A., 1997. The path of carbon in photosynthesis: improved crop yields with methanol. National Academy Science. 89, 9794-9798.
Opoku, G., Davies, F.M., Zetrio, E.V., Camble, E.E., 1996. Relationship between seed vigor and yield of white beans (Phaseolos vulgaris L). Journal of Plant Variety Seed. 9, 119-125.
Pahlevani, A., Rashed, M.H., Ghorbani, R., 2008. Effects of environmental factors on germination and emergence of Swallowwort. Journal of Weed Technology. 22, 303-308. [In Persian with English summary].
Rahbarian, R., Khavari-nejad, R., Ganjeali, A., Bagheri, A.R., Najafi, F., 2012. Drought stress effect on germination and seedling for drought tolerance in chickpea genotypes (Cicer arietinum L.) under control condition. Iranian Journal of Field Crops Research. 10(3), 522-531. [In Persian with English summary].
Ramberg, H.A., Bradley, J.S.C., Olson, C., Nishio, J.N., Markwell, J., Osterman, J.C., 2002. The role of methanol in promoting plant growth. Plant Biochemistry and Biotechnology. 1, 113-126.
Tigabu, M., Oden, P.C., 2001. Effect of scarification, gibberellic acid and temperature on seed germination of two albizia species from Ethiopia. Seed Science and Technology. 29, 11-20.
Zeng, Y.J., Wang, Y.R., Zhang, J.M., 2010. Is reduced seed germination due to water limitation a special survival strategy used by xerophytes in arid dunes. Journal of Arid Environments. 74, 508-511.