Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Cold stratification, fluctuating temperatures and removal of the glumes significantly improved germination of Leymus chinensis

Author(s):

Hongyuan Ma ^{1, 2}, Zhengwei Liang ^{1, 2*}, Shuhong Wang ³, Lihua Huang ⁴

Recieved Date: 2010-07-08, Accepted Date: 2010-10-22

Abstract:

Leymus chinensis is of high economic and ecological values but deeply dormant. To study the factors influencing the seed dormancy and find the methods that could easily break dormancy, seeds were treated as follows: stratified for 4 to 19 d at 5°C; put into incubators setting at fluctuating temperatures of 16/28, 5/28 and 5/35°C and constant temperatures of 25, 28 and 35°C; soaked in warm water of 35°C for 3 to 72 h and then incubated at 16/28°C. The Petri dishes were wrapped with two layers of aluminium foil to keep seeds in the dark. Glumes of seeds were removed and seeds were incubated at different temperatures. Results showed that seeds stratified for 10 d at 5°C and incubated at 16/28°C could get the highest germination of 88.7% that was 32.0% higher than in unstratified seeds. Germination percentages at fluctuating temperatures were from 54.0% to 85.3% while they were no more than 1.3% at constant temperatures. Removal of glumes could improve germination percentage to 95.0% at 5/35°C. Stratification at 5°C for 10 d was a simple and feasible method to break seed dormancy of Leymus chinensis. Fluctuating temperatures were necessary for the seed germination. Glumes were another important resistance for the germination of the Leymus chinensis.

Keywords:

Leymus chinensis, dormancy, germination, cold stratification, fluctuating temperature

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2010
Volume: 8
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 1291-1296

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