Improving Antioxidant Defense in Plants Through Seed Priming and Seedling Pretreatment

Under abiotic and biotic stress conditions, the first and foremost effect on crop is reduction/poor seed germination, which results in poor crop stand and ultimately results in poor crop production. Seed priming proved to be a promising approach to alter the seed hydration and nutrition level for better germination, improved and synchronized crop stand, and better crop yield in normal and stress conditions as well. Abiotic and biotic stress rejuvenates the oxidative stress in different plant cellular compartments due to production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as by-product of plant metabolic processes. To overcome the damaging effects of ROS, plants naturally develop antioxidant defense system within the plant body through production of enzymatic and nonenzymatic antioxidants to regulate oxidant and antioxidant balance in plants. Different types of seed priming techniques like hydropriming, nutrient priming, thermopriming, osmo-priming, etc. help protect the plants from oxidative stress by production of antioxidants for ROS scavenging to control lipid, DNA, and protein oxidation within the plant body. Seed priming found to be an operative approach to improve antioxidant defense system in the plant body and had promotive advantages to advance seed germination, plant vigor, and crop stand and overcome nutrient deficiency and minimize the negative impacts of stress conditions. In this chapter, we have reviewed promotive effects of seed priming and seedling pretreatment to improve antioxidant defense system in the plant body under stress conditions and role of seed priming in reducing the ROS production and ROS scavenging to maintain oxidants and antioxidant balance in plant’s cellular compartments.