**5. Conclusions**

The present study observed the roles of different priming methods—including hydropriming, osmotic priming, halopriming, and hormonal priming—in enhancing resistance to *A. niger* in wheat. All the priming methods used in our study exerted positive effects on plant growth and development, and on resistance to *A. niger*: however, hydropriming and osmotic priming proved to be the best, by significantly improving biochemical (proline, protein, sugar, and chlorophyll contents) and physiological parameters (RWC, root length, shoot length, and fresh and dry root/shoot ratio). In addition, we observed that hydropriming and osmotic priming induced the highest expression of different stressrelated genes, such as *TLP, chitinase*, and *β-1, 3-glucanase*: this may be why wheat plants under hydropriming and osmotic priming exhibited the least disease severity, and higher resistance to *A. niger*. Thus, we conclude that hydropriming and osmotic priming may play an important role in reducing the severity of, and resistance to, disease in plants, which could eventually lead to improved crop yield.

**Author Contributions:** S.G., H.M. and M.F.H.M. planned and designed the research; S.G. and A.H., performed the research and contributed to the methodology, writing, and editing; Q.A., I.A., R.M.A. and Q.M., assisted in the analysis, and compiled the data and results; W.Z., H.M. and M.F.H.M. critically revised and improved the manuscript. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** This article does not contain any studies performed by any of the authors with human participants or animals.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Not applicable.

**Data Availability Statement:** Not applicable.

**Conflicts of Interest:** We confirm that all the authors in our manuscript have no conflict of interest.

## **References**


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