Seed germination response of Indian wild pear (Pyrus pashia) to gibberellic acid treatment and cold storage
Knowledge of seed germination behaviour of different seed sources of tree species is useful in selecting the most responsive and adaptive ones for propagation and germplasm conservation. The wild Himalayan pear (Pyrus pashia Buch-Ham ex D. Don) produces highly nutritious edible fruits that are consumed by local communities. The populations of the species are threatened due to exploitation and lack of adequate conservation programmes. The study was conducted to examine the germination response of P. pashia seeds from two sources (S1-Champawat and S2-Pithoragarh) in Uttarakhand state of India, to different GA3 treatment and also to assess the viability and longevity of the seeds in cold storage (5 °C) for three years. In both sources germination percent (GP) increased significantly under GA3 treatment and speed of germination was also enhanced (reduction in mean germination time). In Source, 1 GP increased under all GA3 application, highest being 94% under GA3 500 ppm treatment. In Source 2, GP of seeds doubled under 100 ppm GA3 treatment while its higher concentrations did not improve the germination. However, the differences observed in germination between the seed sources could be due to differences in the dormancy levels and/or sensitivity to dormancy breaking elements across their geographical range. Thus, exogenous application of GA3 is suggested for enhancing the germination in seeds of P. pashia. Seeds responded to cold storage by increased germination with duration, i.e. highest after three years in storage, indicating that the seeds got the required chilling treatment for overcoming dormancy.
Abdelbasit H, Mahgoup S, Eldoma A (2012). Effect of cold and dry storage on seed viability among three provenances of Acacia tortilis subspecies raddiana and subspecies spirocarpa. International Journal of Advanced Biological Research 2:130-137.
Baskin CC, Baskin JM (2004). A classification system of seed dormancy. Seed Science Research 14:1-16. https://doi.org/10.1079/SSR2003150
Baskin CC, Baskin, JM (1998). Seeds: Ecology, biogeography and evolution of dormancy and germination. Academic Press, San Diego, California, USA. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011465920842
Bentsink L, Koornneef M (2008). Seed dormancy and germination. The Arabidopsis Book/American Society of Plant Biologists, pp 6. https://doi.org/10.1199/tab.0119
Crocker W (1948). Growth of plants. Reinhold Publishing Corporation, New York. https://doi.org/10.1002/jps.3030370918
Djavanshir K, Pourbeik H (1976). Germination value: A new formula. Silvae Genetica 25:79-83.
Domínguez F, Moreno J, Cejudo FJ (2004). A gibberellin-induced nuclease is localized in the nucleus of wheat aleurone cells undergoing programmed cell death. The Journal of Biological Chemistry 279:11530-11536. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M308082200
Donoho CW, Walker DR (1957). Effect of gibberellic acid on breaking of rest period of Eleberta peach. Science 126:1178-1179. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.126.3284.1178-a
Donohue K, Dorn L, Griffith C, Kim E, Aguilera A, Polisetty CR, Schmitt J (2005). Environmental and genetic influences on the germination of Arabidopsis thaliana in the field. Evolution 596:740-757. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0014-3820.2005.tb01750.x
Finkelstein R, Reeves W, Ariizumi T, Steber C (2008). Molecular aspects of seed dormancy. Annual Review of Plant Biology 59:387-415. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.59.032607.092740
Fogle HW (1958). Effects of duration of after ripening, gibberellins and other pretreatments on sweet cherry germination and seedling growth. Proceedings of American Society for Horticultural Science 72:129-133. https://doi.org/10.2307/2440115
Fowler C, Mooney P (1990). Shattering food, politics and the loss of genetic diversity. The University of Arizona Press. Tucson, USA.
Ginwal HS, Phartyal SS, Rawat PS, Srivastava RL (2005). Seed source variation in morphology, germination and seedling growth of Jatropha curcas in central India. Silvae Genetica 54:76-80. https://doi.org/10.1515/sg-2005-0012
Güleryüz G, Kırmızı S, Arslan H, Güleryüz E (2021). Breaking of dormancy in the narrow endemic Jasione supina Sieber subsp. supina (Campanulaceae) with small seeds that do not need light to germinate. Acta Botanica Croatica 80:12-17. https://doi.org/10.37427/botcro-2021-009.
Hartmann HT, Kester DE, Davies FT, Jr., Geneve RL (1997). Plant propagation: Principles and Practices. 6thed. Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4238(97)00085-X
Huang Z, Zhang X, Zheng G, Gutterman Y (2003). Influence of light, temperature, salinity and storage on seed germination of Haxloxylon annodendron. Journal of Arid Environments 55:453-464. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-1963(02)00294-X
ISTA (2010). International Rules for Seed Testing. Zurichstr.50, CH-8303 Bassersdorf, Switzerland.
Kanjilal UN (1928). Forest flora of the Chakrata, Dehradun and Saharanpur Forest Divisions. Uttar Pradesh, 3rd ed. Govt. of India Press, Delhi.
Kumar A, Nautiyal MC, Prakash S (1988). Enhancement of pear (Pyrus Pashia L.) seed germination by GA and ethanol. Current Science 57:964-966.
Lewak S (2011). Metabolic control of embryonic dormancy in apple seed: seven decades of research. Acta Physiologiae Plantarum 33:1-24. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11738-010-0524-8
Macdonald B (1993). Practical woody plant propagation for nursery growers. 4th edition. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon.
Mrva K, Wallwork M, Mares DJ (2006). Alpha- amylase and programmed cell death in aleurone of ripening wheat grains. Journal of Experimental Botany 57:877-885. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erj072
Orchard T (1977). Estimating the parameters of plant seedling emergence. Seed Science and Technology 5:61-69.
Pillay DTN, Brase KD, Edgerton LJ (1965). Effects of pretreatments, temperature and duration of after ripening of germination of Mazzard and Mahaleb Cherry seeds. American Society for Horticultural Science 86:102-107.
Powell B, Ickowitz A, McMullin S (2013). The role of forests, trees and wild biodiversity for nutrition-sensitive food systems and landscapes. In: Expert background paper for the International Conference on Nutrition, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy.
Renzi JP, Duchoslav M, Brus J, Hradilová I, Pechanec V, Václavek T, … Smýkal P (2020). Physical dormancy release in Medicago truncatula seeds is related to environmental variations. Plants 9:503. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9040503
Shiv Kumar P, Banerjee AC (1986). Provenance trail of Acacia nilotica. Journal of Tree Sciences 5:53-56.
Sindelar J (2002). Toward threatened forest tree species preservation on the example of crab apple (Malus sylvestris L.) and wild pear (Pyrus pyraster L. [Burgsdorf]). Zprav Lesnic Vyzk 47:199-203.
Smiris P, Pipinis E, Aslanidou M, Mavrokordopoulou O, Milios E, Kouridakis A (2006). Germination study on Arbutus unedo L. (Ericaceae) and Podocytisus caramanicus Boiss. & Heldr (Fabaceae). Journal of Biological Research 5:85-91.
Spano C, Buselli RF, Castiglione MR, Bottega S, Grilli I (2006). RNases and nucleases in embryos and endosperms from naturally aged wheat seeds stored in different condition. Journal of Plant Physiology 164:487-495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2006.03.015
Stokes P (1965). Temperature and seed dormancy. In: Ruhland W (Ed). Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology 15(2):746-803. Springer, Berlin. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-50088-6_60
Suri SK (1984). Analytical study of teak provenance test in North Raipur Division of Madhya Pradesh. The Indian Forester 110:345-363.
Timson J (1965). New method of recording germination data. Nature 207:216-217. https://doi.org/10.1038/207216a0
Troup RS (1975). Silviculture of Indian trees (Revised edition). Forest Research Institute Press, Dehradun, India. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.24363
Vasques A, Vallejo VR, Santos MC, Keizer JJ (2014). The role of cold storage and seed source in the germination of three Mediterranean shrub species with contrasting dormancy types. Annals of Forest Science 71(8):863-872. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-014-0395-z
Vidigal DS, Marques ACSS, Willems LAJ, Buijs G, Méndez-Vigo B, Hilhorst HWM, … Alonso-Blanco C (2016). Altitudinal and climatic associations of seed dormancy and flowering traits evidence adaptation of annual life cycle timing in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell and Environment 39:1737-1748. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.12734
Wawrzyniak M, Michalak M, Chmielarz P (2020). Effect of different conditions of storage on seed viability and seedling growth of six European wild fruit woody plants. Annals of Forest Science 77:58-77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13595-020-00963-z
Copyright (c) 2021 Notulae Scientia Biologicae
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Distribution - Permissions - Copyright
Papers published in Notulae Scientia Biologicae are Open-Access, distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
© Articles by the authors; licensee SHST, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The journal allows the author(s) to hold the copyright/to retain publishing rights without restriction.
Open Access Journal - the journal offers free, immediate, and unrestricted access to peer-reviewed research and scholarly work, due SHST supports to increase the visibility, accessibility and reputation of the researchers, regardless of geography and their budgets. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.