Physiological and environmental control of seed germination timing in Mediterranean mountain populations of Gundelia tournefortii

Abstract Fruit and seed morphology interact with embryo physiology and environmental conditions to control seed germination timing. This interaction plays a pivotal role in ecosystems with narrow windows for seedling establishment, such as the Mediterranean mountains. In this study, we investigated the germination responses of the secondary capitula (disseminules) of Gundelia tournefortii from East Mediterranean mountain populations. When incubated at 15 °C, intact capitula did not reach 20% of final germination, with or without the addition in the germination substrate of $ GA_{3} $ (250 mg $ L^{−1} $), while extracted fruits reached 50% of germination, which increased to ca. 70% when treated with $ GA_{3} $. Cold stratification enhanced final germination of the capitula at 15 °C to ca. 65%, although almost half of the initially sown capitula germinated during the second month of stratification at 5 °C. During the stratification at 5 °C, peak puncture force needed to pierce the basal part of the capitula decreased linearly and capitula started germinating after one month, which corresponded to a peak puncture force of 0.41–0.35 N. These findings highlight the presence of mechanical and hormonal components of physiological seed dormancy. The morphology of the disseminules controls seed germination timing, by interacting with cold winter temperatures and starting seed germination only in early winter. These findings not only provide new insights on the reproduction from seeds of this plant, but by highlighting high germination of cold-stratified intact capitula, can also support plant propagation programmes for this key wild edible species, very important for food security and the livelihoods of local communities in the East Mediterranean region..

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:97

Enthalten in:

Plant growth regulation - 97(2021), 2 vom: 22. Mai, Seite 175-184

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Mattana, Efisio [VerfasserIn]
Gómez-Barreiro, Pablo [VerfasserIn]
Hani, Nizar Youssef [VerfasserIn]
Abulaila, Khaled [VerfasserIn]
Ulian, Tiziana [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext [kostenfrei]

BKL:

48.50$jPflanzenproduktion: Allgemeines

42.41$jPflanzenphysiologie

48.52$jPflanzenernährung$jDüngung

Themen:

Cold stratification
Dispersal unit
Mechanical constraint
Puncture force
Seed dormancy
Wild edible plant

Anmerkungen:

© The Author(s) 2021

doi:

10.1007/s10725-021-00717-5

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

OLC2130384633

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