EFFECTS OF PRIMING ON GERMINATION AND BIOCHEMICAL ATTRIBUTES OF THREE MAIZE LINES UNDER NaCl STRESS CONDITION/Efecto de impregnar la semilla con EDTA en la germinacion y atributos bioquimicos en tres lineas de maiz bajo estres de NaCl

The adverse effect of salinity has been established to vary between different varieties of the same plant species. This study was therefore conducted to determine the tolerability of three newly released lines of maize to saline conditions when primed with ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and salicylic acid (SA) each at 1.0 M concentration; seeds primed with distilled water were used as control. Concentrations of 0, 50, 100, 150 and 300 mM NaCl were tested. The experiment followed a 3x3x5 factorial arrangement of treatments with three replications. The results revealed significant interaction between maize lines and salinity where the germination percentage of line SWAN-LSR-Y was much more affected than the other lines at the salinity level of 50 mM, and its speed of germination was more affected than the others when passing from 150 to 300 mM NaCl. The seedling lengths (radicle and plumule) and seed vigor index were influenced by significant interaction between the primer and salinity, where EDTA enhanced better seedling growth than the other primers when the salinity did not exceed 150 mM. OMR-LSR-SY maize line did not show tolerability at this concentration. Similarly, EDTA and SA treated maize lines showed lower accumulation of reactive oxygen species such as superoxide anion radical ([O.sub.2.sup.-]), hydrogen peroxide ([H.sub.2][O.sub.2]), as well as a decrease in the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, most importantly in SWAN-LSR-Y and BR9928-OMR-SR-Y maize lines. Catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were enhanced in SWAN-LSR- Y and BR9928-OMR-SR-Y upon application of EDTA. Additional keywords: EDTA, salicylic acid, salinity, Zea mays Se ha demostrado que los efectos adversos de la salinidad pueden variar entre distintas variedades de una misma especie vegetal. Este estudio se realizo para determinar la tolerabilidad de tres lineas de maiz recien liberadas a condiciones salinas cuando se impregnaron con acido etilendiaminotetraacetico (EDTA) y acido salicilico (SA), cada uno a una concentracion de 1,0 M; como control se usaron semillas humedecidas con agua destilada. Se probaron concentraciones salinas de 0, 50, 100, 150 y 300 mM de NaCl. El experimento tuvo un arreglo factorial de tratamientos de 3*3*5 con tres repeticiones. Los resultados revelaron una interaccion significativa entre las lineas de maiz y la salinidad donde el porcentaje de germinacion de la linea SWAN-LSR-Y fue mucho mas afectado que las otras lineas al ni