Mechanisms of seed priming for improving stand establishment and seed germination of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) under salinity and drought stresses

The aim of this paper is to review the recent literature on the response of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) to seed priming under suboptimal environmental conditions such as salinity and drought stress. The results show that seed priming with physiological, biochemical and molecular changes in seeds lead to improve seed vigor, seed germination and seedling establishment enhancement. A better understanding of the metabolic events taking place during the priming treatment and the subsequent germination should help to use this simple and cheap technology in a more efficient way but the results show that for rapeseed, little information exists and further research is needed.

Keywords:

drought stress , rapeseed , salt stress , seed germination , seed priming.