Effect of boron on chickpea seed germination and localization of H2O2 in root tissues

The effects of boron (B) on the germination rate and localization of H2O2 in root tissues of four chickpea cultivars (Cicer arietinum L. cv. Hisar, cv. Işık, cv. Yaşa ve cv. Azkan) were investigated. The germination percentage of all chickpea cultivars was not affected by B concentrations up to 50 mM, and decreased by 100 mM and 150 mM about 16-25% at the end of 96 h, except cv. Hisar. At the highest B treatment (100 mM B) cv. Hisar seeds riched the 50% germination rate at 22 h while it was 33, 38, and 47 h in cv. Azkan, cv. Yaşa and cv. Işık seeds, respectively. In addition, root length of all cultivars was increased by 0.1 mM B treatment comparing to 0 mM B, and decresed by 15 mM B significantly.Histochemical detection of H2O2 in root tissues showed that was localised in cortex parenchyma cells surronding the central cylender at 0 and 0.1 mM B treatments in all varieties. Increasing B concentration into 15 mM increased level in epidermis and cortex parenchyma cells in all varieties in addition to appearance of H2O2 in xylem parenchyma of Işık and Yaşa cultivars.In conclusion, cv. Hisar was more tolerant to high B treatments than other cultivars during germination periode. It is suggested that 0.1 mM B can be used for fertilization and in seed osmopriming studies to improve seedling growth, and detection of H2O2 localization in root tissues can be used as a selection criteria for high B tolerant genotypes using a simple and economical method.Key words: Boron, chickpea, germination,H2O2 , root growth