Abstract Seed priming with bio-based agents is an effective approach to improving plant performance under environmental stress. This study evaluated the effects of seed priming with Arthrospira platensis on wheat growth under salt stress. The treatments included T 0 : control, T 1 : A. platensis seed priming, T 2 : NaCl (100 mM), and T 3 : A. platensis seed priming combined with NaCl (100 mM). In the greenhouse experiment, the effects of the treatments on oxidative stress markers (H 2 O 2 , MDA), antioxidant enzyme activities (SOD, CAT), proline, relative water content (RWC), chlorophyll content, and plant height were determined during the seedling (S 1 ), tillering (S 2 ), stem elongation (S 3 ), and heading (S 4 ) stages. Furthermore, the impact of the treatments on phenological development stages and morphological characteristics were also assessed. The results showed that A. platensis improved early seedling development, chlorophyll content and RWC. Notably, the regulatory effect of A. platensis on the accumulation of H 2 O 2 , SOD, CAT, proline, and MDA was maintained across the S 1 -S 4 stages under salt stress conditions. Compared to T 0 and T 1 , salt stress (T 2 ) caused an overall reduction in phenological development day durations, whereas the effect of A. platensis (T 3 ) was not significant. Moreover, A. platensis had a significant positive effect on tiller number, spike height, number of grains per spike, and thousand grain weights, even under salt stress conditions (T 1, T 3 ). Overall, A. platensis emerges as an effective and viable bio-based priming agent for supporting sustainable agriculture and stress tolerance. Graphical abstract
Oguz et al. (Thu,) studied this question.