Will selenium increase lentil (Lens culinaris Medik) yield and seed quality?

Abstract

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik), a nutritious traditional pulse crop, has been experiencing a declining area of production in South East Asia, due to lower yields, and marginal soils. The objective of this study was to determine whether selenium (Se) fertilization can increase lentil yield, productivity, and seed quality (both seed Se concentration and speciation). Selenium was provided to five lentil accessions as selenate or selenite by foliar or soil application at rates of 0, 10, 20, or 30 kg Se/ha and the resulting lentil biomass, grain yield, seed Se concentration, and Se speciation was determined. Seed Se concentration was measured using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) after acid digestion. Seed Se speciation was measured using ICP-mass spectrometry with a high performance liquid chromatography (ICP-MS-LC) system. Foliar application of Se significantly increased lentil biomass (5586 vs. 7361 kg/ha), grain yield (1732 vs. 2468 kg /ha), and seed Se concentrations (0.8 vs. 2.4 μg/g) compared to soil application. In general, both application methods and both forms of Se increased concentrations of organic Se forms (selenocysteine and selenomethionine) in lentil seeds. Not surprisingly, the high yielding CDC Redberry had the highest levels of biomass and grain yield of all varieties evaluated. Eston, ILL505, and CDC Robin had the greatest responses to Se fertilization with respect to both grain yield, seed Se concentration and speciation; thus, use of these varieties in areas with low-Se soils might require Se fertilization to reach yield potentials.

Selection of parents and estimation of genetic parameters using BLUP and molecular methods for lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) breeding program in Argentina

“…The use of greenhouses is important in lentil breeding because it allows screening RILs for heat tolerance, identifying and developing heat-tolerant genotypes, determining if the different RILs are adapted to this culture system for later use in nodulation studies, studying the effects of different light conditions at germination on the content of polyphenolics and antioxidant properties (Świeca et al, 2012), and conducting studies on selenium fertilization (Thavarajah et al, 2015), salinity (Ganjeali et al, 2015), and drought tolerance. The varieties selected in the present study for adaptation to both field and greenhouse climatic conditions could be used later for such studies.…”

Selenium Biofortification in Radish Enhances Nutritional Quality via Accumulation of Methyl-Selenocysteine and Promotion of Transcripts and Metabolites Related to Glucosinolates, Phenolics, and Amino Acids

“…Most of research on Se biofortification has been performed in broccoli, lentils, tomato, and wheat so far (Thavarajah et al, 2008 , 2015 ; Schiavon et al, 2013 ; Avila et al, 2014 ; Galinha et al, 2015 ; Bachiega et al, 2016 ; Tian et al, 2016 ). Like broccoli, radish is a member of the Brassicaceae family, and contains a wide spectrum of beneficial health compounds (Minich and Bland, 2007 ).…”

Effects of selenium (Se) application and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AMF) inoculation on soybean (Glycine max) and forage grass (Urochloa decumbens) development in oxisol

“…Beneficial effect of Se on lentil yield has been reported by Ekanayake et al (2015), and this effect was showed mainly at low Se doses. As knew, the selenate assimilated by the plants uses the same enzymes involved in sulfate reduction, which are amino acid precursors and consequently of proteins, mainly in legumes plants that have high protein content, in that case its suppose the increases of grain yield is attributed to the great sodium assimilation by soybean plants (Thavarajah et al, 2015;Sors et al, 2005). The effects of AMF were quite evident and significant in shoot dry weight, but negligible for the others variables of soybean plants.…”