Ionizing Radiation: Effective Physical Agents for Economic Crop Seed Priming and the Underlying Physiological Mechanisms

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 23; no. 23; p. 15212
• Main Authors: Wang, Jiaqi, Zhang, Yixin, Zhou, Libin, Yang, Fu, Li, Jingpeng, Du, Yan, Liu, Ruiyuan, Li, Wenjian, Yu, Lixia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 02.12.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Agriculture; Antioxidants; Biological effects; Cell cycle; Crop production; Crop Production - methods; Crop yield; Crops; DNA damage; DNA methylation; Electron beams; Food security; Free radicals; future needs; Gamma rays; Germination; Heavy ions; Ion beams; Ionizing radiation; Metabolism; Physiological effects; physiological mechanism; Physiology; Proton beams; Radiation; Radiation, Ionizing; Review; seed priming; Seedlings; Seedlings - physiology; Seeds; Seeds - physiology; Stress, Physiological; physiological mechanism; seed priming; agricultural production; ionizing radiation; future needs
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms232315212

To overcome various factors that limit crop production and to meet the growing demand for food by the increasing world population. Seed priming technology has been proposed, and it is considered to be a promising strategy for agricultural sciences and food technology. This technology helps to curtail the germination time, increase the seed vigor, improve the seedling establishment, and enhance the stress tolerance, all of which are conducive to improving the crop yield. Meanwhile, it can be used to reduce seed infection for better physiological or phytosanitary quality. Compared to conventional methods, such as the use of water or chemical-based agents, X-rays, gamma rays, electron beams, proton beams, and heavy ion beams have emerged as promising physics strategies for seed priming as they are time-saving, more effective, environmentally friendly, and there is a greater certainty for yield improvement. Ionizing radiation (IR) has certain biological advantages over other seed priming methods since it generates charged ions while penetrating through the target organisms, and it has enough energy to cause biological effects. However, before the wide utilization of ionizing priming methods in agriculture, extensive research is needed to explore their effects on seed priming and to focus on the underlying mechanism of them. Overall, this review aims to highlight the current understanding of ionizing priming methods and their applicability for promoting agroecological resilience and meeting the challenges of food crises nowadays.