biologia plantarum

Biologia plantarum 69:58-67, 2025 | DOI: 10.32615/bp.2025.006

Sulfur dioxide promotes wheat seed germination under drought stress and regulates antioxidant metabolism in wheat

Nan-Nan LIU¹, Zi-Xu LU¹, Xi-Kai GUO¹, Gui-Lin ZHOU², Yi-Ran XUAN², Zhi-Yan WANG², Zhi-Kun YU², Gai-Fang YAO¹, Juan LI³, Rong-Fang XU³, Kang-Di HU^{1, *}, Hua ZHANG^{1, *}

¹ School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, P.R. China

² Hefei Fengle Seed Co., Ltd., Hefei 231283, P.R. China

³ Rice Research Institute, Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hefei 230031, P.R. China

With the drastic changes in global climate and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, abiotic stress poses a significant threat to future food crop production and is a major contributor to crop yield reduction (Ahmad et al., 2010). Wheat, one of the world's primary food crops, is susceptible to both abiotic and biotic stresses at all stages of its growth and development. Numerous studies have indicated that drought stress severely limits the growth and productivity of wheat (Xue et al., 2014; Faran et al., 2019). Therefore, understanding the effects of drought stress on wheat grain germination and developing strategies to mitigate the inhibition of germination caused by drought are crucial for enhancing wheat yield.

Keywords: antioxidants, drought stress, germination, sulfur dioxide, Triticum aestivum.

Received: March 9, 2025; Revised: July 8, 2025; Accepted: August 4, 2025; Published online: August 28, 2025  Show citation