Breaking Dormancy In Gmelina arborea Roxb. Through Treatment Of Seeds With Chemical Substances And Alternating Temperature
Abstract
Seeds of Gmelina arborea Roxb. were subjected to different treatment [chemical scarification with concentrated sulphuric acid (H2S04), potasium nitrate (KNO3), potasium nitrite (KNO2) and alternating temperature regimes] to ascertain the best treatment for terminating dormancy in the seeds. Initial viability and germination tests showed that the seeds of G. arborea are viable but dormant. Seed viability percentage of 96 was recorded. Dormancy in the seeds was found to be the physical type caused by hard seed coat. Chemical scarification for 10 minutes with concentrated H2S04 was very effective in breaking seed dormancy in the species. This increased water uptake in the seeds to 68% compared with the 15% in unscarified seeds after 7 days. Scarification gave a germination percentage of 80 over 43% for the unscarified after 26 days. 1mM and 10mM KNO3 and KNO2 terminated dormancy and highly enhanced germination in the scarified than unscarified seeds. Alternating temperatures promoted germination of G. arborea seeds with the best results recorded at 9 cycles of alternating temperature at 30 °C for 16hours and 45 °C for 8 hours.Key Words: Dormancy, Gmelina arborea, Chemicals, Alternating temperature
Bio-Research Vol.2(1) 2004: 59-66
Bio-Research journal is an open access journal, which means all its content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution.
You are free to share (that is, copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) as long as you follow these licence terms:
Attribution (by)
You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license.
Non Commercial (nc)
You can copy, distribute, display, perform, and use this material for any purpose other than commercially (unless you get permission first). Non Commercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
No Derivatives (nd)
If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material. But note that simply changing the format does not create a derivative.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the licence permits.
Notices
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.