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Biostimulant Effects of Cerium on Seed Germination and Initial Growth of Tomato Seedlings

The rare earth element (REE) cerium (Ce) can act as a biostimulant in diverse crop plants. The effects of 0, 5, 10, and 15 µM Ce (supplied as CeCl3 7H2O) on seed germination and the initial growth of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) cv. Vengador were evaluated. After a 12 h imbibition, the weight of the seeds treated with 15 µM Ce was 37.5% greater than that observed in the control. The germination index of the seeds treated with 5 µM Ce was greater than 100% (101.93%), though when applying 10 µM Ce this index was 17.53% lower than the control seeds. Nevertheless, Ce treatments did not significantly affect the coefficient of velocity of germination, relative seed germination, germination index, radicle length, dry biomass, or relative growth. Interestingly, shoot length increased significantly in the treatments with 5, 10, and 15 µM Ce. This tendency was also observed in the dry biomass weight and relative growth of the shoots. Hence, Ce has a stimulating effect on germination and initial growth in tomato cv. Vengador shoots. In particular, there was a priming effect of Ce on seeds, reflected in a higher weight gain in Ce-treated seeds, which indicated greater water absorption. Therefore, Ce can be an alternative to accelerate the production time of tomato seedlings in seedbeds.