Plant defense activator-mediated seed priming suppresses leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) and enhances yield in bread wheat genotypes

Abstract

Puccinia triticina causing leaf rust is a significant pathogen of wheat because it negatively affects the canopy functioning, grain filling, and final yield. This research investigated the impact of seed priming on leaf rust severity, growth and yield of three bread wheat varieties Arooj-22, Dilkash-20 and MH-21. For this experiment, a completely randomized factorial design was used with three replications, including hormonal (jasmonic acid, salicylic acid, gibberellic acid), nutritional (KNO₃), botanical (moringa leaf extract), and biological (Trichoderma sp.) priming treatments. Disease severity and agronomic traits were significantly influenced by seed priming, with treatment and varietal differences in response. Arooj-22 was lowest in severity with GA 25 ppm and Dilkash-20 with Trichoderma 50 %, but the highest severity was in diseased control, especially in MH-21. Arooj-22 had the greatest yield of plants in Trichoderma 50 % and KNO3 0.5 % had the best yield response uniformly in all three varieties. Correlation analysis demonstrated that 1000 grains weight, leaf area and plant yield had a negative relationship with disease severity, but multivariate analysis differentiated between favorable lower dose treatments and weaker higher dose treatments. In general, the results indicate that seed priming has the potential to lessen the severity of leaf rust and significantly enhance the productivity of wheat, although its effectiveness requires attention to the choice of the primer, dose, and host genotype in the field pot condition.