Seed and Embryo Germination in Ardisia crenata

Abstract

Ardisia crenatais an evergreen shrub with attractive bright red berries. Although this species is usually propagated by seed, the seeds take a long time to germinate with conventional sowing methods. We investigated the germination capacity of seeds and embryos collected in different months and the effects of seed storage conditions, germination temperature, water permeability of the seed coat, and the endosperm on seed germination. Seeds and embryos collected in late September or later showed good germination rates. Seeds germinated more rapidly after longer periods of storage at low temperature (approximately 5°C), and those stored in dry conditions showed lower emergence frequency than those stored in wet conditions. Seeds germinated at 15–30°C, but not at 5–10°C. Removal of the seed coat enhanced water uptake and seed germination. Seeds with various proportions of the removed seed coat were sown on a medium supplemented with sucrose. The germination frequency increased as the size of the remaining endosperm decreased. However, the opposite results were obtained when seeds were sown on a medium without sucrose. We concluded that the optimal temperature of 25°C is the most critical factor for seed germination inA. crenata.

In Vitro Decoated Seed Germination and Seedling Development for Propagation of Wild Mandrake (Mandragora autumnalis Bertol.)

“…In contrast, the absence of seed coats of the decoated seeds permitted deep dark-blue staining of the endosperms and the embryos within 6 days ( Figure 3 C). Consistent results were obtained with methylene blue-treated intact vs. decoated seeds of Ardisia crenata [ 22 ]. This indicates that rigid seed coat of M. autumnalis performed physical barrier against water permeability, and thus prevented imbibition.…”

“…This indicates that rigid seed coat of M. autumnalis performed physical barrier against water permeability, and thus prevented imbibition. Contrariwise, its removal would promote water uptake, which is important to initiate biochemical changes towards germination completion [ 22 , 23 ]. This particular concern was further empirically investigated in the afterward decoated seed germination tests.…”

“…In contrast, the removal of M. autumnalis seed coats showed a faster and higher rate of in vitro seed germination and seedling development as described later in this paper. The beneficial effects of seed coat removal on early germination have been reported among other plant species, for instance Ardisia crenata [ 22 ], Mangifera indica [ 28 ], and Prunus yedoensis [ 29 ].…”

Accelerated Generation of Selfed Pure Line Plants for Gene Identification and Crop Breeding

“…Secondly, young embryos are cultured reducing the time required for seed maturation (Wang et al, 1999 , 2003 ). At this step, the removing of endosperm promotes germination because of embryos' easy absorption of the readily available sucrose in the medium (Tezuka et al, 2012 ) and the detachment of possible inhibitors in the endosperm (Chawla, 2002 ). A fully in vitro protocol for FGCS has also been reported for some plants including protein legumes, Arabidopsis and wheat etc.…”

Factors Affecting Seed Germination of Ilex latifolia and I. rotunda

“…Embryo culture techniques have been used to overcome seed dormancy (Biggs et al, 1986;Chee, 1994;Raghavan, 2003;Sharma et al, 1996) and to shorten germination time (Acebedo et al, 1997;Tezuka et al, 2012) in many plant species. Seedlings have also been obtained for several Ilex species by culturing immature embryos (Hu, 1975;Mattis et al, 1995;Sansberro et al, 1998Sansberro et al, , 2001).…”