Alkalinity and salinity tolerance during seed germination and early seedling stages of three alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars

Author(s):  
Huihui Zhang ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Xu Nan ◽  
Guangyu Sun ◽  
Minglong Sun ◽  
...  

The germination of halophytes in saline-alkali substrates is a useful criterion for selection tolerant alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) cultivars. The experimental conditions consisted of five levels of salinity (24, 48, 72, 96 and 120 mM) and four pH levels (7, 8, 9 and 10). The results showed that under saline conditions, the germination percentage (Gp), plumule length (Pl) and radical length (Rl) also decreased with increasing concentration. However, under low or moderate saline conditions, Pl and fresh weight decreased sharply but Rl was the longest at 48 and 72 mM and pH 7.1, which indicated that low salinity may promote radical growth appreciably. Salinity and alkalinity stresses had synergetic effects on Gp, Ge and Gi but not on Pl, Rl and fresh weight. The results confirmed Gp, Gi and Ge are important indices for assessing germinated energy of alfalfa in salinity-alkalinity soils. Moreover, three alfalfa cultivars tested were relatively tolerant of salinity and alkalinity and Stockpile was the most tolerant cultivar in the present experiment.

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mélissa De Wilde ◽  
Elise Buisson ◽  
Nicole Yavercovski ◽  
Loïc Willm ◽  
Livia Bieder ◽  
...  

Successful invasive plant eradication is rare, because the methods used target the adult stage, not taking into account the development capacity of a large seedbank. Heating by microwave was considered, because it offers a means to quickly reach the temperature required for loss of seed viability and inhibition of germination. Previous results were not encouraging, because homogeneous and deep-wave penetration was not achieved, and the various parameters that can affect treatment effectiveness were incompletely addressed. This study aimed to determine, under experimental conditions, the best microwave treatment to inhibit invasive species seed germination in terms of power (2, 4, 6 kW) and duration (2, 4, 8 min) of treatments and depending on soil moisture (10%, 13%, 20%, 30%) and seed burial depth (2, 12 cm). Three invasive species were tested: Bohemian knotweed, giant goldenrod, and jimsonweed. The most effective treatments required relatively high power and duration (2kW8min, 4kW4min, 6kW2min, and 6kW4min; 4kW8min and 6kW8min were not tested for technical reasons), and their effectiveness diminished with increasing soil moisture with germination percentage between 0% and 2% for the lowest soil moisture, 0% and 56% for intermediate soil moisture, and 27% and 68% in control treatments. For the highest soil moisture, only 2kW8min and 4kW4min reduced germination percentage between 2% and 19%. Occasionally, germination of seeds located at the 12-cm depth was more strongly affected. Giant goldenrod seeds were the most sensitive, probably due to their small size. Results are promising and justify further experiments before developing a field microwave device to treat large volumes of soil infested by invasive seed efficiently and with reasonable energy requirements. Other types of soil, in terms of texture and organic matter content, should be tested in future experiments, because these factors influence soil water content and, consequently, microwave heating.


Author(s):  
Gamze Kaya

The study aimed to evaluate the use of germination indices as a screening tool for salinity tolerance during germination and early seedling growth of pepper cultivars, and to distinguish the potential for genetic responses to salt tolerance. In the study, the seeds of seven pepper cultivars were germinated at increasing NaCl levels of 5, 10, 15 and 20 dS/m and distilled water as the control treatment for 14 days. Germination percentage (GP), mean germination time (MGT), germination index (GI), germination stress tolerance index (GSTI), seedling length (SL), seedling fresh weight (SFW) and vigor index (VI) were investigated. Results showed that germination percentage decreased with increasing NaCl levels while the highest germination percentage at 20 dS/m was 92% in BT Burdem with no significant reduction. Seedling growth of pepper cultivars was severely inhibited by increasing salinity stress. SFW was depressed depending on reduction in SL due to increasing NaCl. BT-Burli and BT İnce Sivri were the most tolerant cultivars to NaCl and they were used for genetic resources towards salinity. Seedling growth was much more sensitive to salinity than germination because of the highest percent reduction in seedling growth parameters. Among the parameters, GSTI gave the highest significant correlation coefficient with SL and SFW; indicating that it would be useful for estimating seedling growth. It was concluded that genotypic variation was observed among pepper cultivars for salinity tolerance and GSTI could be used for a predictor for salinity tolerance.


Agriculture ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Iman Mirmazloum ◽  
Attila Kiss ◽  
Éva Erdélyi ◽  
Márta Ladányi ◽  
Éva Zámboriné Németh ◽  
...  

Two experiments (in Petri dishes and in soil) were conducted to investigate the effects of osmopriming on seed germination and the early seedling characteristics of caraway (Carum carvi L. var. annua). The priming treatments in the Petri dish experiment were: polyethylene glycol (5%, 10% and 20%), KNO3 (0.5%, 1% and 2%) and KCL (1%, 2% and 4%) with three different soaking times (12, 24 and 36 h) along with control (non-primed seeds). Only polyethylene glycol and H2O were applied in the cell tray experiment, which were then compared with the non-primed seeds. In the Petri dish experiment, all three priming reagents significantly enhanced seedling length, with the most effective treatments being 5% PEG, 2% KNO3 and 1% KCL for 12 h. The plumule dry weights were also increased significantly after PEG (20% for 36 h), KNO3 (2% for 24 and 36 h) and KCL (1% for 12 h) treatments in comparison with the control. In the soil experiment, osmopriming with PEG significantly improved the germination rate (GR) and percentage, the plumule dry and fresh weights and the plumule length of caraway seedlings when compared with the control. A 23% higher germination percentage was recorded for the seeds treated with 5% PEG for 24 h as compared with the non-primed seeds. The PEG-primed seeds produced significantly longer seedlings when treated with 5% PEG for 24 h. All of the applied PEG treatments significantly enhanced the plumule fresh and dry weights, with the best outcomes being after 5% PEG (24 h) and 10% PEG (36 h) treatments, respectively. The 12-h hydro-priming also significantly enhanced all of the studied germination parameters when compared to the control. The results of the presented experiments show the significant positive effects of seed priming on caraway germination and how early seedling performance can easily be adopted by producers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-59
Author(s):  
Plamen Marinov-Serafimov ◽  
Irena Golubinova ◽  
Diana Marinova

Allelopathic effects of cold water extracts of Cuscuta epithymum L. on seed germination and initial development of Medicago sativa L. varieties were investigated under laboratory conditions at the Institute of Forage Crops, Pleven, during 2016-2017. It was found that the water extracts from dry biomass of C. epithymum had a considerably stronger inhibitory effect on the studied M. sativa varieties (IR 32.7-100.0 %), as compared to the extracts of fresh biomass (IR 0.2-40.5%). Depending on the kind of C. epithymum extract (fresh or dry parasitic weed biomass), IRs for seed germination of the tested M. sativa varieties could be conventionally classified into five groups: 1) seed germination stimulation, -1.4% - extracts from fresh biomass affecting the variety ?Multifoliolate?; 2) seed germination inhibition of 0.1-10% - extracts prepared from fresh biomass affecting the varieties ?Prista 3?, ?Pleven 6?, ?Prista 5? and ?Obnova?; 3) seed germination inhibition of 11-20% - extracts from fresh biomass affecting the varieties ?Roly? and ?Victoria?; 4) seed germination inhibition of 30-45% - extracts from dry biomass affecting the variety ?Multifoliolate?; 5) seed germination inhibition of 46-60% - extracts from dry biomass affecting the varieties ?Prista 5?, ?Prista 3?, ?Victoria?, ?Roly?, ?Dara?, ?Pleven 6? and ?Obnova?. The varieties ?Victoria?, ?Prista 5? and ?Multifoliolate? of M. sativa possess some allelopathic tolerance because their germination indexes (GI) range from 80.5 to 88.7 % for the extracts prepared from fresh weed biomass of C. epithymum, and from 47.1 to 48.6% for the extracts from dry weed biomass, compared to control treatment. These varieties can be used as components in future breeding programmes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 814-818

Effect of Carthamusoxyacantha powder aqueous extract on seed germination of Wheat and Maize were studied. Powder extract of 3g, 6g and 9g of concentration were soaked in distilled water for 12 Hrs, 24 Hrs and 36 Hrs of time. The seeds of Wheat and Maize were germinated in Petri dishes. Control was maintained by watering the seeds with distilled water. The highest values for germination percentage, shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, seedling length, vigor index and seedling weight vigor index were recorded in control of wheat the above parameter decreased with increasing concentration and timing. While in maize highest values for the above parameters were recorded in treatments as compared to control.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Ahmed ◽  
MHK Howlader ◽  
A Shila ◽  
MA Haque

An incubation experiment was conducted at the Department of Soil Science, Patuakhali Science and Technology University during Rabi season 2015 to investigate the effects of different levels of salinity on germination and early seedling growth of maize. There were ten treatments consisting of different concentrations of salinity viz. 0, 20, 40, 80, 120, 160, 200, 240, 280 and 320 mM NaCl. The germination experiment was conducted in petri dish lined with a layer of cotton consisting ten ml of each test solution. Germination percentage gradually decreased with the increase of concentration of salt. Up to 80 mM concentration was found safe for maize seed germination. Salinity caused delay in germination.  Highest seedling height was found at 40 mM NaCl concentration (21.51 cm) and root length (23.61 cm) was found in 20 mM NaCl concentration. In 320 mM NaCl concentration roots were abnormal, deformed and twisted. The 0 to 80 mM NaCl concentration gave statistically similar shoot fresh weight. Compared to control treatment 20 mM NaCl concentration gave 0.55 % higher fresh weight and at 80 mM NaCl concentration shoot fresh weight reduced by only 6.9 %. The 80 mM NaCl concentration was found acceptable for germination and early seedling growth of maize.Progressive Agriculture 28 (1): 18-25, 2017


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