Abstract
A major challenge in the agricultural industry is finding innovative and sustainable methods that can lead to enhanced crop resistance to abiotic stress factors and increased productivity. Research in recent years has proven the potential of non-thermal plasma in various fields, including agriculture, with relevance in promoting plant growth and development, plant immune response to abiotic stress or pathogen resistance. In the present study, distilled water was activated using dielectric barrier discharge equipment; subsequently, plasma-activated water (PAW) was used to irrigate maize plants subjected to cold stress. Two different maize accessions were studied in this work, SVGB-11742 and SVGB-718, previously identified as highly and moderately resistant to cold stress, respectively. After plant exposure to cold and irrigation with plasma-activated water, morphological, morpho-agronomical and physiological parameters and molecular data were assessed. The two genotypes showed distinct, often opposing, responses to PAW treatment depending on the parameter assessed. Generally, the obtained data at the molecular level showed that treatment with PAW increased the expression of certain genes involved in growth and development of the SVGB-718 variant subjected to cold stress. Irrigation of plants exposed to low temperatures with PAW did not have the predicted effects at the morphological and even the physiological level regarding the concentration of assimilatory pigments and the cold test index. While morphological benefits were limited and genotype-specific, PAW induced significant molecular changes (upregulated stress-responsive genes in SVGB-718), suggesting a priming effect that may not have been captured in the short-term morphological assays. However, the results obtained represent an important background for future studies.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
The two maize genotypes showed distinct and often opposing responses to PAW by parameter.
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“The two genotypes showed distinct, often opposing, responses to PAW treatment depending on the parameter assessed”
t0“Zea mays L.”
Claim · model-written summary
PAW increased expression of growth and development genes in cold-stressed SVGB-718.
- Material
- SVGB-718e0
- Treatment
- PAWe0
- Outcome
- expression of certain genes involved in growth and developmente0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- subjected to cold stresse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“treatment with PAW increased the expression of certain genes involved in growth and development of the SVGB-718 variant subjected to cold stress”
t0“Zea mays L.”
Claim · model-written summary
PAW had limited genotype-specific morphological benefits under cold exposure.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“While morphological benefits were limited and genotype-specific, PAW induced significant molecular changes”
t0“Zea mays L.”
Claim · model-written summary
PAW did not produce predicted changes in assimilatory pigment concentration.
- Treatment
- PAWe0
- Outcome
- concentration of assimilatory pigmentse0
- Direction
- did not have the predicted effectse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Irrigation of plants exposed to low temperatures with PAW did not have the predicted effects at the morphological and even the physiological level regarding the concentration of assimilatory pigments and the cold test index”
t0“Zea mays L.”
Claim · model-written summary
PAW did not produce predicted changes in the cold test index.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“Irrigation of plants exposed to low temperatures with PAW did not have the predicted effects at the morphological and even the physiological level regarding the concentration of assimilatory pigments and the cold test index”
t0“Zea mays L.”
Claim · model-written summary
PAW significantly upregulated stress-responsive genes in SVGB-718.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“PAW induced significant molecular changes (upregulated stress-responsive genes in SVGB-718)”
t0“Zea mays L.”
The same questions in other papers
physical treatment · physiology: pigments · Zea mays (maize)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- negative
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.