Seed Priming with Selenium: Consequences for Emergence, Seedling Growth, and Biochemical Attributes of Rice Abdul Khaliq & Farhena Aslam & Amar Matloob & Saddam Hussain & Mingjian Geng & Abdul Wahid & Hafeez ur Rehman Received: 4 October 2014 /Accepted: 28 January 2015 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015 Abstract The present study was undertaken to appraise the role of selenium priming for improving emergence and seedling growth of basmati rice. Seeds of two fine rice cultivars (Super and Shaheen Basmati) were primed with concentrations of 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, and 105 μmol L −1 selenium. Untreated dry- and hydro- primed seeds were maintained as the control and posi- tive control, respectively. Selenium priming resulted in early commencement of emergence, triggered seedling growth irrespective of rice cultivar over untreated con- trol, and was more effective than hydro-priming except at higher concentrations. Lower electrical conductivity of seed leachates, reduced lipid peroxidation, greater α-amylase activity, higher soluble sugars, and enhanced activities of enzymatic antioxidants (superoxide dismut- ase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), catalase (CAT), and glu- tathione peroxidase (GPX)) were observed in seeds primed with selenium. Rice seedlings derived from selenium-primed seeds exhibited more chlorophyll con- tents, while total phenolics were comparable with those of the control seedlings. The improved starch metabo- lism, greater membrane stability, and increased activity of antioxidants were considered as possible mechanisms responsible for such improvements in emergence and seedling vigor of rice mediated by selenium priming. Priming with selenium (15–60 μmol L −1 ) favored rice emer- gence and seedling growth. Nevertheless, soaking seeds in relatively concentrated (90 and 105 μmol L −1 ) selenium solu- tion had overall detrimental effects. Keywords α-Amylase . Antioxidants . Basmati rice . Selenium priming . Soluble sugars Abbreviations CAT Catalase E 50 Time taken to 50 % emergence EI Emergence index FEP Final emergence percentage GPX Glutathione peroxidase GR Glutathione reductase MDA Malondialdehyde MET Mean emergence time POX Peroxidase ROS Reactive oxygen species Se Selenium SOD Superoxide dismutase TSE Time to start emergence A. Khaliq : F. Aslam : A. Matloob : S. Hussain (*) Department of Agronomy, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan e-mail: sadamhussainuaf@gmail.com A. Matloob Department of Agronomy, Muhammad Nawaz Shareef University of Agriculture, Multan, Pakistan S. Hussain College of Plant Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, China S. Hussain : M. Geng College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China A. Wahid Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan H. ur Rehman Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan Biol Trace Elem Res DOI 10.1007/s12011-015-0260-4