the effect of salicylic acid pretreatment on germination indices of chia seeds under drought stress

Chia plant (salvia hispanica l.) is of special economic importance due to the presenceof omega-3 compounds in the seeds and the presence of antioxidant compounds in the leaves. toinvestigate the effect of salicylic acid pretreatment on germination characteristics of chia seedsunder drought stress conditions, a factorial experiment was conducted in a completelyrandomized design with three replications in the physiology laboratory of razi university ofagriculture and natural resources. the first factor includes salicylic acid at four levels and thesecond factor is drought stress at two levels. in this study, average root length, average stemlength, average root-to-stem length ratio, germination percentage, germination rate, plant vigor,and relative leaf water content were measured and determined. according to the results of theanalysis of variance, the main effect of salicylic acid on average root length, percentage andgermination rate, plant vigor, and relative water content was significant. also, the interactioneffect of salicylic acid and drought stress on germination rate and germination percentage wassignificant at 5% probability level. the highest germination percentage and other studied traitswere related to soaking seeds in 2 mm salicylic acid and non-stress conditions. comparing themean interactions of drought stress and salicylic level, some traits and indicators decreased withincreasing salicylic content and a high level of drought stress. according to the results of the study,drought stress reduced germination-related traits and salicylic acid reduced the adverse effect ofdrought stress on germination-dependent traits.