Superoxide radical production and performance index of Photosystem II in leaves from magnetoprimed soybean seeds.

Priming of soybean seeds with static magnetic field exposure of 200 mT (1 h) and 150 mT (1 h) resulted in plants with enhanced performance index (PI). The three components of PI i.e the density of reaction centers in the chlorophyll bed (RC/ABS), exciton trapped per photon absorbed (φpo) and efficiency with which a trapped exciton can move in electron transport chain (Ψo) were found to be 17%, 27% and 16% higher, respectively in leaves from 200 mT (1h) treated compared to untreated seeds. EPR spectrum of O2.--PBN adduct revealed that the O2.-radical level was lower by 16% in the leaves of plants that emerged from magnetic field treatment. Our study revealed that magnetoprimed seeds have a long lasting stimulatory effect on plants as reduced superoxide production and higher performance index contributed to higher efficiency of light harvesting that consequently increased biomass in plants that emerged from magnetoprimed seeds.