Red Kidney Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Germination and Seedling Growth as affected by Selenium, Nano- Selenium and Sulfur

Selenium and sulfur similarity in chemical properties and transport pathways through plant pretend that they may share or compete in some metabolic activities during seed germination and plant growth. This work aimed to study the effect of soaking red kidney bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) for 2h in aerated solution of Gum Arabic-Coated Selenium Nanoparticles (GA-SeNPs ≈ 48.22 nm), Sodium Selenate (Na₂SeO₄) and Sodium Sulphate (Na₂SO₄), each at 0.0, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 μM concentrations, on germination and seedling growth. The control and the treated seeds were germinated at 25°C ± 0.5 under dark controlled conditions for 4 days. GASeNPs, Na₂SeO₄ and Na₂SO₄ significantly improved germination percentage and seedling growth criteria of red kidney bean up to 10 μM, as compared with the controls. Red kidney bean responded in more or less similar trend to the different concentrations of the treatment solutions, with the magnitude of improvement was always greater for GA-SeNPs than for Na₂SeO₄ and Na₂SO₄. Moreover, both Na₂SeO₄ and Na₂SO₄ significantly decreased germination percent and seedling growth at 50 μM than the controls.

The results indicated the successful use of GA-SeNPs up to 50 μM, Na₂SO₄ and Na₂SeO₄ up to 5 μM, for enhancing the germination potential and subsequent seedling growth of red kidney bean under study.