Early growth effects on Arabidopsis thaliana by seed exposure of nanosecond pulsed electric field

Abstract

Arabidopsis thaliana seeds were subjected to nanosecond pulsed electric field (nsPEF) to examine the growth effect. The exposures were carried out using electrical pulses of 10 ns duration with the field intensity varied from 5 to 20 kV cm -1 . Statistical analysis on the average leaf area showed that the positive nsPEF effect appeared a few days after germination. It was also found that the effect was significant the second week following treatments, especially at 10 kV cm -1 with a maximum increase of 80% compared to the control (P < 0.01). © 2012 Elsevier B.V.