Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Can Induce Adaptive Response in Pea Seeds

This study investigated the effect of cold atmospheric pressure air plasma pre-treatment on pea (Pisum sativum L.) seeds. The aim of our study was to verify the plasma impact on DNA damage and the induction of positive adaptive response in pea seedlings. The pea seeds were treated by plasma at the exposure times ranging from 60 to 300 s. Plasma was generated using the coplanar type of dielectric surface barrier discharge. The main plasma properties were estimated by electrical and by optical emission spectroscopy measurements. The DNA damage was evaluated by the alkaline comet assay. The adaptive response on seedlings was tested using the toxic concentration of zeocin. The positive effect of plasma pre-treatment and the reduction of DNA damage of pea seedlings in comparison to control samples without plasma was observed at all exposure times used. The strongest repairing effect was observed at the plasma treatment time in the range from 120 to 240 s. These results verify the safety of plasma application in agriculture at germination and growth enhancement and the existence of a plasma induced adaptive response.