TITLE:
Physiological Conditioning of Alibertia edulis (Rich) Seeds
AUTHORS:
Tathiana Elisa Masetto, Eliane Marques da Silva Neves, Silvana de Paula Quintão Scalon
KEYWORDS:
Cerrado, Seeds Germination, Polyethylene Glycol, Osmotic Potential
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.9 No.5,
April
20,
2018
ABSTRACT: Physiological conditioning of seeds has been shown
to increase the uniformity of seedlings; thus, it has been useful for
propagating native tree species from the Brazilian Cerrado which, otherwise,
are difficult to propagate successfully. The objective of this work was to
evaluate the effect of physiological conditioning of Alibertia
edulis seeds
by soaking for 5 or 10 days in solutions of varying osmotic potential. After
conditioning, seeds were dried down to original water content, sown on sheets
of germitest paper inside gerbox plastic boxes, and incubated at 25°C. We evaluated the effect of conditioning by studying seed germination
and vigor. Seed conditioning by osmotic pretreatment showed positive effects;
however, germination and growth of seedlings from seeds conditioned at osmotic
potentials of -0.3 to -0.7 MPa were reduced. Osmoconditioning for 10
days at -0.7 MPa resulted in increased
percent germination, indicating that the
longest imbibition period in the osmotic solution of the lowest osmotic potential (-1.3 MPa) favored the seed germination
process. A. edulis seeds did not require conditioning to attain high germination rates;
nonetheless, osmotic conditioning reduced average seed-germination time.