The germination process is critical for plant growth and development and it is largely affected by environmental stress, especially salinity. Recently, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is well known to act as a signaling molecule in a defense mechanism against stress conditions but poorly understood regulating seed germination. In this study, the effects of NaHS (the H2S donor) pretreatment on various biochemical (hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) content and amylase and protease activity) and physiological properties (germination rate) during seed germination of oilseed rape (Brassica napus L. cv. Mosa) were examined under salt stress. The seed germination and seedling growth of oilseed rape were inhibited by NaCl treatment but it was alleviated by NaHS pretreatment. The NaCl treatment increased H2O2 content leading to oxidative stress, but NaHS pre-treatments maintained much lower levels of H2O2 in germinating seeds under salt stress. Amylase activity, a starch degradation enzyme, significantly increased over 2-fold in control, NaHS pretreatment, and NaHS pretreatment under NaCl during seed germination compared to NaCl treatment. Protease activity was highly induced in NaHS-pretreated seeds compared to NaCl treatment, accompanied by a decrease in protein content. These results indicate that NaHS ...